Volunteer with Monmouth County SPCA

Requirements

All volunteers must be at least 18 years old, no exceptions. (Not 18 but still want to help? Click here)

All volunteers are required to complete and pass a background check issued by the MCSPCA.

All volunteers must commit to at least 6 months of volunteer work with a minimum of 8 service hours per month.

Process

1) Fill out the MCSPCA Volunteer Application.

Please be honest with your answers and consider whether or not volunteering with us is the right fit for you! Please allow one week for your application to be processed.  If accepted, you will be contacted with the next appropriate steps.

2) Attend New Volunteer Orientation.

Orientations are held once a month in our Community Room at our Eatontown location and have a maximum capacity of 40 registrants per orientation. Orientation will cover basics about our organization and more information on the volunteer process.

3) Pay one time $100 Volunteer Fee.

This fee covers your background check, volunteer t-shirt, and photo ID. Payment will be accepted at the end of orientation in the form of cash, check, or credit card. Do NOT make any payments until/ unless directed by the Volunteer Coordinator. Click here for the payment link.

4) Train with a mentor volunteer and start with Basic Needs throughout our shelter.

New volunteers will start out learning and volunteering in our Basic Needs areas to become acclimated with our shelter, staff, and other volunteers!

5) After you complete your basic needs requirement, interview with the Volunteer Coordinator to discuss your interests and find your best fit in the organization!

Our volunteers help out in areas such as adoptions, events, outreaches, dog walking, cat socialization, clinic help, and more! 

Volunteer Opportunities

The MCSPCA is much more than just an animal shelter and we need volunteers in all areas throughout our organization.

Below are just some of the opportunities open to MCSPCA Volunteers.

Please remember, all volunteers must be at least 18 years old to volunteer and must complete the Volunteer Orientation Process.

Basic Needs: All new volunteers will start volunteering under “Basic Needs” from 8AM-4PM, 7 days a week. Basic Needs covers those essential things that help our shelter run smoothly such as laundry, dishes, puppy care, and more. New volunteers will become comfortable and oriented with the shelter, staff, and fellow volunteers.

Dog Walking: Our dogs are always in need of care, exercise, and enrichment to best prepare them for finding homes! All volunteers will be trained to learn the proper way to clean, care for, and walk our dogs. Help is needed especially between the hours of 7:30AM-10AM and 4PM-6PM, seven days a week.

Cat Socializing: Our cats also need of care, enrichment, and, of course, love! Feline care revolves around socializing cats, maintaining and cleaning their digs, doing laundry, and keeping the adoption floor clean and ready for adopter. Trained volunteers can come in to prep the cats at 7:30AM and socialize between 8:30AM to 5PM, 7 days a week.

Welcome Desk: Volunteers at our welcome desk and adoption desk are the face of the MCSPCA. These volunteers greet and direct visitors as well as take calls and messages. Regular volunteers are needed, especially on the weekends during our busiest times.

Adoption Counselors: These volunteers have the job of approving adoptions for one of our homeless animals and giving them a new start in a loving home. Volunteers would be required to work two days a week, preferably one of the days being on a weekend. This would be a set schedule. Detailed training is required along with a commitment of minimally 6 months. You must also work with the animals to become familiar with them for talking with potential adopters.

Thrift Store: Our thrift store sells gently used items as a reduced price, and all profits from the store go directly back to running the shelter. Help is desperately needed to accept, sort, hang, price, and market donations.

Foster Program: Some of our animals need a more comfortable environment for socialization or destressing, or may be too young to be put up for adoption. These animals are placed into our foster program until they are adopted from their foster homes or come back to the MCSPCA. We greatly appreciate the help of our foster families to help our animals be better prepared for finding their forever homes. (You don’t have to be a MCSPCA Volunteer to foster! Click here for more information)

Fundraising, Events, & Outreaches: Our shelter runs off of donations, which are often collected through various fundraisers and events. Additionally, we attend outreach events where we bring dogs available for adoption and information for educating the community. Outreaches often need dog handlers, volunteers for running our table, and adoption counselors.

Transports: Some local vets and groomers donate their services to provide pro bono work on our animals. Volunteers are needed to transport animals to and from their appointments. Additionally, transporters are needed to bring animals to our Eatontown location and pick up arriving dogs from the airport. Transporters also assist in times when injured or orphaned wildlife arrive at our shelter and must be moved to a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center, which can be up to an hour and a half away.

Pet Pantry: The Pet Pantry serves to provide pet care assistance to low income families through offering free food and supplies. The Pet Pantry was started as a result of Super Storm Sandy, but remains as a viable alternative to surrendering beloved pets. Help is needed in the form of physical labor for rotating shelves and unloading donated food, and light clerical work.

Interested? Learn more about the application process!

Volunteer FAQ

I want to volunteer but I’m under 18 years old, how can I help?

Although the nature of our volunteer work does not allow for those under 18 to volunteer, we always encourage interested individuals to check out our Junior Volunteer Program! Hosting fundraisers and donation drives outside of the shelter an in our communities is a great way to support our shelter and our animals!

What are the volunteer hours?

Our volunteers are typically at the shelter between the hours of 8AM-6PM, 7 days a week. New volunteers may only volunteer between 8AM-4PM until they are properly trained to help out in other areas of the shelter.

I have experience working with animals, can I accelerate the volunteer process?

All of our volunteer must go through the same orientation process, no exceptions. This is for the safety of our volunteers, staff, and of course, our animals.

I’ve had a background check completed, do I still need to pay for one?

Yes, you will still need to complete a background check to volunteer with us. Only background checks completed by the MCSPCA are accepted and they must have been completed within the last 6 months.

I need to complete a service requirement, what can I do?

We ask that all volunteers commit to at least 6 months of volunteer work with at least 8 hours of service each month because of the level of training involved in our volunteer program, which typically does not fit the time schedule of a service requirement. We encourage hosting a fundraiser or donation drive to acquire service hours, more information can be found about that here!

I am not able to volunteer independently, can I still volunteer?

Unfortunately, do to the nature of our work all volunteers must be able to volunteer independently. We have limited resources, staff, and space which requires all volunteers to be able to complete their work on their own.

I previously volunteered for the MCSPCA and want to get started again, how can I?

Please email the Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected] for more information on this. Please include your full name, when you went through orientation, and how long it has been since you volunteered.

I don’t have a computer at home or access to an email address. Can I still volunteer?

We rely on emails and an online volunteer software to communicate with all of our volunteers, track volunteer hours, and have our volunteers sign up for different opportunities. Because of this, all volunteers must have easy access to a computer and email address.

Still have questions?

Please email [email protected]!

Junior Volunteer Program

Want to help the animals but not quite old enough to volunteer in the shelter?

There are still plenty of ways you can help make a difference!

Thank you so much for helping the animals waiting so patiently for their forever homes at the Monmouth County SPCA! We appreciate your help!
If you have questions or need a written letter for service hours please email [email protected] . Remember- these are just some ideas. If you have other creative ways to help let us know and we would love to hear about your ideas!

Printable version of the Junior Volunteer Program

Outside Volunteer Opportunities

Wish List Donation Drive

• Take a look at our Wish List.  Many items may be things that people have around their house already, such as old linens. Kids do wish list drives by printing out the list and hanging it at schools, parent’s jobs, congregations such as church or temple and sharing with friends, family and neighbors. You may also consider partnering with a food or pet store, setting up a table outside for a day, handing out the Wishlist as people walk in and collecting donations as they come out. It is up to you how big you make your donation drive!

Bake Sale/Lemonade Stand/Car Wash

• Raising money for the animals is a huge help! Be creative!
• These ideas can be used for individual volunteers or groups.
• You can do this right in your own yard, or consider doing it at a sports event, school, or any other community area. Just make sure you get permission!

Canister/Paws For Life

• Donation Cans be used by individual volunteers or within a school setting. You can even ask for one if you are doing a Wishlist donation drive as some people prefer to donate money over supplies.
• Cans can be left at a certain organization or business for a period of time or used once for a specific time and date at a facility. Of course the business must give permission first. Then the family would be in charge of collecting the money monthly and bringing it to the SPCA or mailing in a check.
• Our Paws for Life program consists of paper Paws that sell for $1, $5 or $10. Local businesses and schools sell these paws and hang them up for a certain period of time to raise money for the animals. Know a business that might be interested? It helps to spread the word! And doing it through school is always a big way to help if you get permission!
• We are happy to provide you with the Paws and posters promoting the program. We can also provide a canister but we find that it is a fun project for kids to make their own!

Become A Foster Home

Contact [email protected]

• This is an opportunity for parents that want to introduce animal care to their children. We realize this is not always possible for all families but if it is, it is a great value to the children!
• The parents would have to do a back ground check and fill out all paperwork, but the kids could help with the responsibility.
• This is a great way to have people foster the animals, and get them out of the shelter environment. We are mostly in need of cat/kitten fosters for short periods of time. We provide the supplies and veterinary care during their time in foster.
• Of course our biggest goal is to find loving families for all of the animals at the adoption center! We need you to educate your friends and family to always ‘Opt to Adopt’. You will find photos and bios of some adoptable dogs and cats on our website. Printing fliers, making posters, sharing on social media and at school, are all great ways to share some of our adorable adoptables. Maybe you can find a great home looking for a new pet- what better way to help one of our animals!

Promote Our Pets

• Of course our biggest goal is to find loving families for all of the animals at the adoption center! We need you to educate your friends and family to always ‘Opt to Adopt’. You will find photos and bios of some adoptable dogs and cats on our website. Printing fliers, making posters, sharing on social media and at school, are all great ways to share some of our adorable adoptables. Maybe you can find a great home looking for a new pet- what better way to help one of our animals!