Cat Room Volunteer Openings

• Saturday Adoption Help.     We need help transporting the cats to PetSmart on Airline Hwy for adoptions. Help set up the tables and cages. Work with adoption counselors to keep the cat and kittens happy and safe. Greet the public and answer their questions. You can come for the full day 10:30 am to 3:30 pm or do a half day 10:30-1 or 1-3:30.
• Vet Transport.   Pick up any cats needing to go the vet and either drop them off at a convenient clinic or stay with them during an appointment.  Availability during normal business hours is a must.
• Feral Cat Work - Help us identify, trap, vet, and spay/neuter feral colonies in Baton Rouge. We also need people to help with Public Outreach/Education. Some knowledge of feral cat behavior is helpful.
• Cat Shift - If you love cats this is the job for you. A cat shift consists of feeding the cats, scooping/dumping liter, general cleaning (sweeping, mopping, laundry), and the glorious joy of playing with and loving the CAAWS cats and kittens. The morning shift can start anywhere from 7am to 10am and the evening shift should start between 4pm and 8pm. A shift typically lasts 1-2 hours (depending on the attention span of the cats). It is just 20 minutes of work and the rest is a love fest. You must be able to commit to doing the same shift every week. Shift availability varies.

Cat Spay Day

CAAWS needs volunteers to help with organizing our Spay Days.  We need two shifts of volunteers:
Morning 7:30 to 10:00 am and Evening 3:00 to 5:00 pm.  You will be helping with the administration (signing in/picking up). There is no handling of animals required for this position.

Spay Days are offered on one Sunday a month at LSU, and on weekdays at the new Spay Baton Rouge Spay/Neuter Clinic (behind Greco’s on Greenwell Springs Rd.)  The $25/cat fee includes the spay/neuter, ear tip (if needed,) and vaccinations (kittens must be 4 mos. of age for the Rabies vaccination.)  In addition to feral and stray cats, this program is offered to low income families as well as families who take in stray cats/kittens.  Anyone unable to pay the $25/cat for feral colonies can receive assistance from the CAAWS Feral TNR Program, although, donations of any amount are greatly appreciated.  CAAWS offers loan traps (with sec. dep.) for trapping ferals.

The spay/neuter slots are available by appointment only--no walk-ins, and apply to cats only.  The cats are brought to the LSU Small Animal Clinic between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. on Spay Day, and must be picked up between 3:00-5:00 (varies) p.m. that same day.  Pre and post op instructions are provided.

Note that kittens must be at least 10 weeks of age.  We cannot spay nursing moms unless kittens are eating food in addition to nursing.

Dog Room Volunteer Openings

• Evening Dog Shift - A dog shift consists of feeding, medicating, letting out, cleaning up after, and playing with our CAAWS dogs. The evening shift starts between 5pm and 6pm, and each shift takes about 3 hours. You will be expected to consistently volunteer on the same shift every week. We usually schedule two volunteers per shift, so you will be working with another volunteer who currently does the dog shift. If you love to interact and meet many different breeds (mutts) and sizes (giant) of dogs then this is the job for you. It is helpful if you have knowledge of dog behavior, and you must be able to handle large dogs. It is a lot of work but well worth the effort. A dog shift can be messy so please dress accordingly (they can paint with mud). Shift availability varies.
• Morning Dog Shift-We need help with our morning dog room shifts.  We need volunteers to take care of our CAAWS dogs.  Your responsibilities would be to feed, medicate, clean up after, exercise and love our dogs.  We have mainly large dogs in our shelter so experience handling large dogs is a plus but not necessary.  We have at least one volunteer on each shift so you will have a partner, sometimes two, to help you.  You will be required to do the same morning shift each week.  The shift starts between 7 and 8 am and lasts for 3 to 4 hours.  It can be hard work sometimes but it is well worth the effort and with a helper it is much easier than alone.  Please consider helping out our animals and volunteers.  This would be a great opportunity for someone who is retired and just wants to have something to do once or twice a week. 
• Vet Transport-You will be required to pick up a dog who needs to see a vet and either drop it off at the Veterinary Clinic or stay with it during its appointment or pick it up at the end of the business day. You must be willing to carry LARGE dogs as well as small dogs. These animals may be slobbery, shed a bit, cry, etc. Remember some of these dogs have taken very few car rides. Availability during normal business hours is a must. Most Veterinary Clinics close by 6 pm.