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VCHS Orientation Manual and Guidelines – 12/19
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Volunteer Supervision: Please report to a staff member on arrival and upon leaving and sign in/out
accordingly. The staff will suggest areas where you can work. Once you are comfortable, please begin
to work with the animals by walking them or socializing with them in the meet and greet rooms.
Should you have questions or concerns, please bring them to the attention of any staff member.
Volunteer Placement and Duties: Volunteers will be placed in the requested area, if available. Please
be open to other activities especially in the beginning of your volunteer experience. Sometimes there
are needs at the shelter and volunteers can help satisfy these. If there is something specific you are
interested in, please indicate this area of interest on your volunteer packet. Your first experiences with
the animals will require you to be with a staff person or supervisor.
Volunteer Hours and Schedules: Scheduling of volunteer hours is necessary for good workflow each
day. Please sign up on the schedule in the volunteer area or call, preferably a few days before. If you
are scheduled to come in and cannot do so, please call and let the staff know so they can plan
accordingly. A weekly, organized, predictable volunteer schedule is our goal. A reliable and
predictable schedule is helpful to our animals and staff. Daily cleaning of the shelter is completed
in the morning before 11:30. The shelter is open to the public from 12:00 p.m. to 5. You are able to
volunteer as early as 8:30 a.m. daily and on Saturdays and Sundays until 4:00 p.m. Please schedule
your volunteer hours accordingly. In the morning, if workers are busy, please help with laundry.
Volunteer Sign-In Sheets: There is a Sign-In book, at the volunteer station. A larger calendar is for
signing in with your complete weekly schedule. Please identify yourself to the staff and take a name
tag. Please sign in with your name, the date and the time you arrived. After volunteering, complete a
brief description of your activity including a specific animal name if possible. This is for our purposes
and also for others who want to volunteer after you; so they can choose a different animal to socialize,
if applicable.
Volunteer Attire: Appropriate clothes are required for all volunteer positions. For safety reasons, we
ask that you wear closed toed, flat shoes, long pants and shirts with short or long sleeves. Do not wear
dangling jewelry, scarves, low cut tops or anything that may be a visual distraction or threat to an
animal. Please wear freshly clean clothes. Please do not wear any torn or ripped clothing. Please
change and wash your clothes when you return home. Humane Society apparel is available for
purchase. Please feel free to browse through our selections.
Protecting Yourself and Animals from Possible Spreading of Disease: When working with the
animals, it is critical that you wash your hands or use hand sanitizers after handling each puppy,
kitten, cat or dog. Diseases can be spread by direct or indirect contact. Some diseases are highly
contagious and can lead to death. When appropriate, a smock or cover for your clothing, as you work
with individual animals, may be required of you. Our goal is to save and home animals; therefore,
following instructions and using precautionary measures are a priority.