Paw's Place

Volunteers are the "Heart" of Paw's Place.

Dogs & puppies: Paw's Place has 42 kennels that house almost 80 dogs and puppies. We need volunteers to clean kennels, help with feeding, walk dogs, and play with the dogs and puppies. We need volunteers to help with grounds maintenance: mowing, weedeating, and fixing kennels and cages.

We especially need volunteers to help socialize the dogs and puppies, just by spending time with them, petting them and showing them that somebody cares...

Click Here to see Kennel Procedures, Dog Volunteer Positions, and a Typical Day at the Paw's Place's Kennels

You can also volunteer through VolunteerMatch.
Click for details!

Volunteer Positions Available:

Dog Walker:

Paw's Place needs several people to walk dogs and provide human companionship. We have over 65 dogs and puppies that need to learn to socialize with humans. Your love and affection, even if only for a few hours a day, will help the dogs better adapt to a home environment when they are adopted. Many of the dogs have been abused or neglected and need to re-adapt to human contact. Leashes will be provided. Paw's Place has a dog training area and about 2 acres of grounds to walk dogs. Please visit our web site at www.pawsplace.org for more information on Paw's Place.

Requirements: Ability to get along with and love dogs, and/or knowledge of training or behavior assistance.

Dog Rescue:

Paw's Place needs several people to perform the following tasks: cleaning kennels, transporting dogs to vets and to other locations, walking and socializing dogs, taking dogs to adoption day sites. Your love and affection, even if only for a few hours a day, will allow us to continue our mission.

Our mission is LIFE, and we pursue it four ways:

1. we save pets;
2. we nurse them back to health;
3. we provide a sanctuary for those that are unable to be adopted;
4. and most important of all, we find them loving homes — no matter how long it takes, one LIFE at a time.

Requirements: Ability to get along with and love dogs, to handle ill dogs, and/or knowledge of training or behavior assistance.

Grant Writer — Dogs:

Paw's Place needs a Grant Writer to identify potential grant sources, review the requirements of the grant, discuss the grant with us, and then write the grant proposal. Paw's Place is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization.

Requirements: Experience in locating grant sources, grant review and writing. A love of domestic animals.

Grounds Maintenance:

Paw's Place needs several people to mow the lawn, weedeat the perimeter, and trim the bushes, etc. Equipment will be provided. There is about 1 acre of grass to mow. Please visit the Kennel Photos pages for photos of Paw's Place.

Requirements: Experience with a riding lawn mower, push mower, and weedeater. Ability to work safely and with little or no supervision.

Food Pickup:

Paw's Place needs people to pickup donated dog and cat food at local businesses (WalMart, etc.) and deliver the bags to the Paw's Place Animal Shelter in Boiling Spring Lakes, NC. These broken bags of dog and cat food are essential to the shelter's operations. Paw's Place uses a tremendous amount of dog and puppy food daily.

Requirements: You will need a vehicle and the ability to lift 50 pound bags of dog food (or the ability to divide them into smaller containers). You will also need to be very friendly towards our broken bag donors...

Dog Kennel Carpenter:

Paw's Place needs several people to continually maintain and fix the kennels. We have 42 covered kennels that house over 65 dogs and puppies. These pens are 10' x 20' and 10' x 10', and are in constant need of repair due to the weather and the dogs themselves. The walls are chain link fence and the roofs are wood truss covered with sheet metal. Kennel photos are on the Kennel Photo Page (We desperately need a dog washing facility).

Requirements: Experience with repairing wood structures, chain link fence, etc. We have some tools, but if you could bring your own that would really help. Your skill in acquiring low cost building materials would be greatly appreciated.

Dog Photographer:

Paw's Place needs people to take photographs of our adoptable dogs and puppies for publication in newspapers, magazines, web sites, etc. These photos are used in Petfinder, Paw Prints, local newspapers, and on our web site www.pawsplace.org. Paw's Place has found homes for over 600 animals in since 1999 and photos really help when a potential adopter is looking for a pet. Your ability to get the best photo of the subject will pay off when the animal finds a forever home. Review the links to Petfinder.com and Paw Prints Magazine. We get over 2,500 hits per week on our adoptable dogs on Petfinder.

Requirements: You will need a digital or regular camera, and the ability to capture the dog or puppy in their best possible posture.

Dog Trainer:

Paw's Place needs people to train dogs and provide human companionship. We have over 65 dogs and puppies that need to learn to acknowledge certain commands and socialize with humans. Your love and affection, even if only for a few hours a day, will help the dogs better adapt to a home environment when they are adopted. Many of the dogs have been abused or neglected and need to re-adapt to human contact and commands. Leashes will be provided. Paw's Place has a large fenced-in dog training area and about 2 acres of grounds to walk dogs. Please note that we strictly prohibit any physical dog punishment in the training of our dogs.

Requirements: Knowledge and experience with gentle dog training and behavior modification. Ability to get along with and to handle dogs with no prior training.

Dog Washer/Groomer:

Paw's Place needs several people to help in bathing and grooming our dogs and puppies. We have over 65 dogs and puppies that need to be washed and groomed constantly. Your touching, bathing and grooming, with love and affection, even if only for a few hours a day, will help the dogs look and feel better for visits by potential adopters and for dog adoption days. Many of the dogs have been abused or neglected and need to re-adapt to human contact. Paw's Place usually goes to adoption sites several times a month. Note that we do not have an indoor facility to wash our dogs, so washing will depend entirely on the weather.

Requirements: You will need basic dog washing and grooming skills, a gentle touch, and the ability to get along with and handle dogs.

Web Link Specialist:

Paw's Place needs several people to spend time searching the Internet for dog and cat related web sites that allow links to other animal related sites. Our web site link might then be added to the free links on animal related web sites. Hopefully, with the increased amount of web site visitors to the Paw's Place's web site and a greater number of people looking to adopt our homeless dogs and cats, Paw's Place can continue it's mission on a larger scale. Paw's Place's mission is LIFE, and we pursue it four ways: 1. we save pets; 2. we nurse them back to health; 3. we provide a sanctuary for those that are unable to be adopted; 4. and most important of all, we find them loving homes - no matter how long it takes, one LIFE at a time. Paw's Place is based in North Carolina but we have found forever homes for our dogs as far away as Las Vegas and New York.

Requirements: Ability to search the Internet for animal related web sites that offer free links to other sites.

Sign Maker:

Paw's Place needs several artistic people to make signs for display at: the Paw's Place shelter, our various adoption fairs, several veterinarian's offices, other public places, and our web site. The signs might show: the importance of taking very good care of one's pets, getting periodic vaccinations at the vet, treating a dog for heart-worm prevention, house or crate training, the importance of spay/neuter, obedience training (without abusing the animal), proper care for cats and dogs, or adopting dogs, puppies, cats, and kittens, etc. The artist's creativity in exhibiting the needs of domestic pets is the essential key to a good sign. If you cannot come to Paw's Place in North Carolina, you might visit your local animal shelter and create a sign describing your visit. Please visit www.pawsplace.org for more information about Paw's Place and the dogs and cats that are available for adoption (especially look for the links to Petfinder.com and PawPrints magazine). Note: All signs should be on 8.5" x 11" paper. Please put your name in the lower right hand corner along with your age and city/state. Your sign might be displayed on the Paw's Place web site. Your sign will not be returned unless you specifically ask for it to be returned to you!

Requirements: Creative ability to draw or graphically represent the needs of domestic animals in general and dogs and cats that are available for adoption. A strong love of cats and dogs is very important.

Writer or Journalist:

Paw's Place needs several people to write articles and research papers about the dogs, puppies, cats, and kittens that have been abused, abandoned, neglected and are now available for adoption. Click here to review a paper written by a thirteen year old researcher on the merits of showing affection to previously abused and neglected dogs. The writer's creativity in presenting the needs of domestic pets is the essential key to a good article or research paper. Your article might assist someone in taking care of their dog or cat, pet training, preventing diseases or animal abuse, selecting the right pet for their family, or many other topics. If you cannot come to Paw's Place in North Carolina, you might visit your local animal shelter and write an article describing your visit. Your article might be displayed on the Paw's Place web site or in its periodic newsletters.

Requirements: Creative ability to write about the needs of domestic animals in general, animal shelters, and dogs and cats that are available for adoption. A strong love of cats and dogs is very important.

Purina Weight Circle Clippers:

Paw's Place needs several people to clip and collect the weight circles from Purina dog food bags. With over 65 dogs and puppies, we go through an enormous amount of dog food daily. Because of Purina's generous weight circle redemption program, we are able to substantially reduce our food costs. We feed Purina's products to our dogs and puppies, but not just because of the weight circle program! We ask that you accumulate the weight circles from Purina products that you buy and then donate them to Paw's Place.

Requirements: You will need to purchase Purina dog and puppy food products. You will also need scissors, an envelope, our address, and a stamp.

Send us an email or sign up on VolunteerMatch.

We also need you to spread the word about Paw's Place by writing a review for our Yahoo! page and encouraging volunteers like yourself to get involved.

Thank you!