I’d bet every animal lover and shelter volunteer dreams of it – singlehandedly helping a homeless pet become adopted. Now, San Diego Humane Society is making that dream more attainable than ever before, through its Adoption Ambassador volunteer program.
This newly launched opportunity provides the training and supplies needed for animal lovers to temporarily house homeless pets and facilitate their adoption from outside of the shelter.
How it works: Adoption Ambassador volunteers commit to fostering a friendly animal in their home (a typical stay is three weeks). During their time together, Adoption Ambassadors generate exposure for their animal through a variety of ways, such as taking them out in the community and advocating for the pet through social media and word-of-mouth promotion.
The goal of this temporary foster situation is to find the animal a new home, so Adoption Ambassadors will be trained on how to complete the adoption paperwork. The adoption fee is waived for animals enrolled in this program, so no exchange of payment will be necessary.
This model for volunteer and community engagement is already very popular at other shelters across the country.
With community participation, this innovative program can help San Diego Humane Society:
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Increase the number of adoptions by giving animal lovers the tools and training needed to independently help pets find new homes
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Decrease animal stress levels by allowing them to be in a comfortable home environment while awaiting adoption
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Expand shelter capacity by having pets placed in temporary foster homes. This frees up kennel space at the shelter and allows staff to spend more time with the animals that need extra attention
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Reach a whole new audience of adopters in our community that may have never visited our shelter otherwise. Be on the lookout for animals out and about in your neighborhood as part of this fun program!
This newly launched program was made possible in part by a generous grant from the ASPCA, which allows for all San Diego Humane Society’s campus locations in Escondido, Oceanside and San Diego to offer this new volunteer opportunity. Animal lovers interested in joining this impactful program can fill out an online volunteer application. From there, applicants will be contacted to set up a training date.