Adoption Counselors (5-15 hrs per week) are responsible for managing & processing applications for their animals. They will work with adoption applicants to learn more about each potential adoptive home to ensure that the pet they would like to bring home is a great fit for their home, lifestyle, & preferences. They will also work with their fosters to learn what the perfect home will look like for each pet they sign up for. Adoption counselors can also take on a matchmaking role to help adopters who need help with selecting a pet. This role is rewarding but flexible & you can take on more or less depending on your availability to help.

Foster Support (5-15 hrs per week) volunteers are assigned to work with fosters in order to provide assistance & advice on common behavior / medical issues (or escalation as needed for more serious issues). They also ensure that fosters have everything they need to set their foster pets up for success. Each foster is assigned a foster support person as their primary point of contact. The foster support volunteer works closely with staff to ensure help is being provided in a timely & thorough fashion to all fosters. This role is rewarding but flexible & you can take on more or less depending on your availability to help.

Event Support (2-5 hrs per week) volunteers help organize & run our community outreach events. Events occur on weekends (& some weekday evenings) at different locations across the DMV. Event support volunteers attend events & have responsibilities ranging from getting fosters & volunteers checked in/out, ensuring everyone knows where they can go during the event, answering questions from event attendees at the table, & ensuring fosters & volunteers have everything they need to make the event a success! Please note that cats do not attend our events.

Event Handlers (0-3 hrs per week) are a low commitment way to help out animals in need - handlers attend events & handle dogs in attendance whose fosters are unable to attend so that potential adopters can still get the chance to come by & meet them. There’s no specific time commitment required - you can let us know whenever you have a couple hours to spend with some adoptable dogs on your weekends! Please note that cats do not attend our events.

Drivers (0-5 hrs per week) help with transporting our animals or supplies to their foster homes. This can be driving dogs or cats from the shelter to their new foster homes, to & from events, to vet appointments, or bringing important supplies to fosters like medications or food. There’s no specific time commitment required - you’ll let us know when you’re available to help with a specific driver request!