Volunteering at DuPage County Animal Services

DuPage County Animal Services welcomes volunteers who support our mission and desire to make a contribution to the welfare of animals in our community. Volunteers at Animal Services play a crucial role in helping to care for the animals, as well as provide enrichment, training, and socialization for the animals in our care. 

Group volunteer opportunities - Animal Services is not able to accommodate groups for one-time volunteer opportunities.

The majority of volunteer opportunities are Monday-Friday between the hours of 8:00-4:30. 

Please review the requirements and open positions. Information on upcoming orientations can be found below the position listings. 

Requirements:

• Volunteers must 18 years old to volunteer on their own.
• Children must be a minimum of 10 years old. Any children between the ages of 10-17 must volunteer with a parent or legal guardian.
• Volunteers commit to a weekly time-slot.
• Adult volunteers commit to 6 months of volunteering.
• Children between the ages of 10-17 commit to 3 months of volunteering.
• Volunteers must complete all required training prior to volunteering. 

Open Volunteer Positions

Event Volunteer

• Select evenings and weekends
• Events at the shelter or out in the community
• Spread the word about DCAS work and educate the public on living happily with animals through games and more!
• Contact Educator Laura Winnie for more info: laura.winnie@dupageco.org

Clean Freak

• Wednesdays 10am
• Thursdays 10am
• Saturdays 10 am - alternating weeks
• Taking care of animals involves a lot of cleaning! This helps the animals to be comfortable and reduce disease. Volunteers clean and sanitize dishes, litter boxes, toys and carriers.

Adoption Cat Room Cleaning

• Saturday mornings 8am on a rotating schedule
• Volunteers clean cages and feed adoption cats, as well as spend some time socializing. Cleaning the adoption cat room can take 1-3 hours depending on the number of cats. Providing the cats with a clean and comfortable space to live in, is essential to their health and wellbeing. 

Orange Paw Dog Volunteer

Experienced Medium-Large Dog Handling Volunteers help staff increase adoptability and sociability, reduce anxiety, work through moderate behavior issues, implement moderate behavior modification, and provide calming enrichment activities. Staff may not have formally evaluated Orange Paw dogs yet, but have determined the dogs do not have any severe behavior issues or safety concerns. Orange Paw Volunteers should be comfortable handling large dogs. 

• Recruitment will open again in September 2022
• Must be 18 and over
• Flexible Schedule
• Orange Paw Dog Volunteers are required to have one of the following credentials: Certified Professional Dog Trainer Knowledge Assessed (CPDTKA), Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPACTP), Canine Training Center (CTC) or Animal Behavior College (ABCDT) OR 2+yrs of volunteer experience in an open admission shelter.

Rabbit Pen Cleaning

• Tuesday mornings
• Rabbit handling experience required
• Volunteers clean rabbit pens and cages, feed and give daily greens and socialize with adoption rabbits. 

Rabbit Socializing

• Wednesday afternoons between 12:00-4:00
• Rabbit handling experience required
• Volunteers spend time socializing with rabbits and providing them with exercise pen time. 

Cat Socializing

• Tuesdays 1:00-2:30
• Volunteers spend time socializing, playing with and providing company to adoption cats. 
• Online training required.

Cat Pawsitive Training 

• Mon - Fri - 11am - 1pm. Frequency 2-3 times per week. 
• Must be 18 and over
• Experienced Cat Volunteers help prepare cats for adoptable homes by using basic positive reinforcement clicker training to teach basic behaviors, combat stress and provide enrichment. 
• Recruitment will open September 2022 *based on need

Volunteer Orientation and Onboarding

If you are available for one of the above positions, please email the appropriate volunteer coordinator by clicking one of the following links: 

Canine Volunteer Coordinator

General Volunteer Coordinator

DCAS continues to welcome new foster volunteers. For more information on becoming a foster volunteer, please visit our foster care webpage.