Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers are the backbone of the Happy Tails Rescue organization. Our organization could not exist without volunteers. Everyone working with Happy Tails is a volunteer and we could always use more! As a volunteer, you help the animals in our rescue find their forever homes in whatever area suits you best. Whatever your strengths, Happy Tails Rescue can put them to use. Email us at happytailsrescueinc@yahoo.com.
There are many ways one can volunteer for our organization. Here are a few ideas:
Adoption Events: Promote Happy Tails Rescue’s mission by holding dogs and telling people about them, their history, age, behavior, etc. We have dogs of various types and not all dogs are appropriate for every home. We seek to match dogs with a home that will, hopefully, be a lifelong fit. Most of our dogs have missed critical socialization and training stages in their lives that we work to fill while seeking an appropriate home. We do not have a lot of dogs we would trust in homes with young children simply because the normal behaviors of children can often be too much for our dogs to handle. Each potential adopter is encouraged to fill out an adoption application and is also informed that if the application is approved, but the dog is not a good match, we will work with them to find a dog that might work better for their family.
Adoption Coordinator: Assist by answering questions from the public and arranging meetings between potential adopters and our dogs. Follow up with families after adoption to check in and answer any questions or concerns.
Big Brother/Big Sister for dogs: For those that can’t foster but wouldn’t mind baby sitting- volunteers acts as “bigs” to dogs who are waiting to be adopted. Pamper, love, and spoil the “littles” by doing things like field trips, sleepovers, and trips to the groomers. Development: Our organization is completely dependent on donations. This department assists in finding individual and business sponsors, researching and writing grants, and overseeing donor recognition.
Fostering: Without foster parents there would be no rescue group! It takes a special person to accept an unknown dog into their home, integrate it with their other pets and family, help socialize the animal, take it to adoption events and, ultimately, let it go to a new forever home. It is incredibly rewarding and may break your heart, but there are so many dogs in need that by letting them go you open the door for the next pet in need, and the next, and the next. We have different levels of foster homes with different skills and abilities. We’d love to have you and will work to find a dog that is an appropriate foster based on your level of experience and your activity level.
Transport: Transport pets from foster homes and other locations to adoption events, vet visits, and meet and greets via your own vehicle.
Photographer: We love having great photos of our pets because it honestly helps them get adopted. However, not all of our foster parents know how to take a great photo! If you’ve got experience and would like to help in this area, we’d love it! You’d need to take photos, most often at adoption events (there are areas around the location that might help you get a good photo). You’d also have to get the photo to our volunteer that updates the website. You do not have to be a professional photographer, but you do have to be patient!
Marketing: Are you in the business of marketing? We need your expertise and help! We know there are things we could be doing that would get our name out there better and you could help us get more volunteers and donations, we just don’t know exactly how to do that! We are very selective in the homes where our dogs end up and want to continue to offer great dogs to folks who have an understanding that there is more to a dog than the color of their fur or where they grew up!
Fund Raising: We rely almost exclusively on adoption fees and donations made at adoption events for our rescue. This keeps our funding a bit lower than we’d like. We’d like to know that we are able to help dogs that need a surgery or have a medication that’s a bit more than most without putting our group into a financial bind. Heartworm treatments, dental care, allergy issues, bladder stones, amputations, special diets- all of these are medical care we give our dogs and all of them place a certain level of strain on our finances! We need someone who can run an event who does not require our board members to walk them through it or, in some cases, attend.
Help make a difference and sign up to volunteer today!
Po Box 84; Maiden, NC 28650 Phone:704-507-5307 Email:happytailsrescueinc@yahoo.com Website: Happytailsrescueinc.wix.com/happy-tails-rescue
