Volunteer

​Volunteer Services​

The animals and staff at CMPD Animal Care & Control need you!  We are a very busy shelter with many animals and people entering through our doors. We strive to provide the best possible service and always need additional volunteers! Our shelter volunteers are able to request training within the areas of their interest and are asked to stay practiced, for safety, through consistently volunteering at least 4 monthly hours. In order to volunteer with the CMPD Animal Care & Control, you must be at least 18 years of age and complete a drug test. Background checks also will be conducted on all applicants.

You can see the volunteer positions that always need to be filled at AC&C. Note that the Dog on the Run program requires the full volunteer sign up and processing, and volunteers must be approved to retrieve​​ the dogs and attend the DOTR orientation.

If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please contact Lori Todd at ltodd@cmpd.org.

Ready to join the team? Great! Contact Lori and she'll send you the application. Once you fill that out, send it in the mail or bring it to the shelter.

Address:

8315 Byrum Dr​
Charlotte, NC 28217

Are you looking to volunteer in the Kitten Nursery? Great! Get started on our foster or nursery page.

​​ATTENTION ALL HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS: It is senior exit project time and a lot of you have chosen animal fields or animal cruelty/abuse for your projects. We know that your projects require volunteer hours but you MUST be 18 to volunteer and it could take up to 2-3 months to enter the program so you will not be able to volunteer at the shelter.
As an alternative, we always need money and supplies to help our shelter animals. If your project allows you can always hold a fundraiser and/or donation drive for us. Head to the donation page to find out what supplies we need, and which funds you'd like to finance.
If your project includes a qu​estionnaire, please email our Humane Education Officer, J Conner, at jconner@cmpd.​org and she will be happy to answer them.​​

If you are looking to volunteer due to a court order, please contact Lori at kmiller1@cmpd.org

Volunteer Jobs:​​

  • Lobby Attendant & Animal Interaction – Volunteers assist front counter staff by retrieving animals from the adoption kennels for citizen introduction and adoption consideration. Pet owner education also is relayed through conversations with the adopters. Plus, pet owners often search for lost animals at our shelter and need direction from volunteers.

  • Exercising/Socializing Animals – The shelter's dogs, cats and rodents spend a lot of time in their cages and kennel runs. Volunteer attention given to the animals through walks, petting, side yard runs and toy play provide the physical release and trust building interaction needed.

  • Life Saving Skills – The shelter's dogs are eager to learn and those with basic manners are adopted at a faster rate! We encourage positive training with the dogs for their mental well being and socialization skills.
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  • Bathing/Grooming Animals – The staff needs help with bathing and grooming the animals to keep them clean and healthy! Presentation is everything and those animals looking their best will attract the adopters.

  • Cleaning/Disinfecting Kennels & Cages – Daily cleaning and disinfection of the animal kennels and cages is a time consuming job but vital for preventing the spread of animal illnesses. The shelter staff is very appreciative of the volunteer help received.

  • Off-site Adoption Events – Adoption saves animal lives and the opportunity to adopt is given not only within the shelter but also at various off-site locations throughout the county. Volunteers are needed to assist with adoption event preparation including animal social skill assessment, animal bathing and supply gathering. Adoption events are managed through volunteer shifts and the jobs include animal showcases, public education, adoption agent paperwork duties and mascot costume wear!

  • Spay/Neuter & Rabies Vaccination Clinics – Volunteer support to the vet staff within the spay/neuter and rabies vaccination clinics is needed during the work week mornings and on specific weekend Saturdays. Animal patient check-in, surgery recovery monitoring, instrument pack assembly and crowd control are some of the jobs assisted by the volunteers.

  • Microchip Clinic Assistance – Microchips enable lost pets to find their homes and are provided to pet owners at cost by CMPD Animal Care & Control at numerous locations throughout the year. Volunteers are needed at these clinics for crowd control, data entry and public education.​

  • Animal Adoption Follow-ups – Volunteers are needed to make follow-up phone call inquiries to support the adoptive homes found for animals. The new pet owners are asked to verbally answer a questionnaire for information given to shelter management. New home pet acclimation issues are addressed and training solutions are sought to prevent animal returns to the shelter.

  • Foster Program - Open your home and your heart to our animals that are in need of a nurturing environment for a period of rehabilitation or time to mature. Help save our dogs and cats by joining our fostering team. The animals that might be in need of foster care: Puppies and kittens that need to mature, heartworm positive dogs, dogs with kennel cough and cats with URI, and dogs and cats that need to get out of their kennels and cages for socialization and training. For more information, visit our Foster Program page.

 

When you successfully complete volunteer orientation you will receive your On-Site Activity shirt for $20. After that, as you complete the other designations for Off-Site Events and Dogs-on-the-Run, you will receive specially designed shirts at no charge.

​dogs on the run logo

Dogs On The Run is a lifesaving program that helps connect the community to our adoptable dogs.  As part of the program, trained volunteers may take our adoptable dogs out on the town and to public venues. These excursions allow us to connect with the citizens we serve and increase awareness about shelter dogs, while also providing our dogs with necessary enrichment and reprieve from the shelter environment.

Volunteer Qualifications:

Dogs On the Run volunteers must be CMPD Animal Care & Control volunteers and in reasonably good physical condition. Volunteers must already be approved to handle dogs onsite. They must also attend a Dogs On The Run orientation session, which covers offsite safety considerations and equipment requirements.

By joining the Dogs on the Run program, you will help improve the quality of life of our shelter dogs!

The link below is for our current volunteers only. ​​​
Shift scheduling link for authorized CMPD AC&C Volunteers: 

Volunteer Shift Scheduling Link ​ ​(Volgistics)

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