Volunteer positions
Therapy Pet Volunteer
Dunedin Centre
Outreach Therapy Pets involves volunteers and their own pets who visit rest homes and hospitals to bring comfort and support to those in need.
The animals accepted onto the team have all been assessed for appropriate behaviour in unfamiliar situations, basic obedience and health.
What we expect from our volunteers:
- The minimum age for joining the team is 18 years of age and animals must be between 12 months and 10 years.
- To join the team you MUST have your own animal – it is not appropriate to use an animal belonging to a friend or family member.
- Volunteers need to commit to two visits a month for 12 months.
- Volunteers to have an excellent working relationship with their animal and able to keep them safe, supervised and under control.
- Volunteers are responsible for ensuring their animal’s needs and welfare are being met at all times.
What we expect from our therapy animals:
Outreach therapy animals must be:
- Highly sociable with all types of people.
- Confident and calm around people that may act differently to their owners.
- At ease in new, unfamiliar environments.
- Dogs must be obedient, with exceptional control and focus in new environments with lots of distractions.
- Outreach dogs should be able to walk calmly on a loose lead and perform sit, down, stay and recall reliably in an unfamiliar environment with distractions.
- Clean and well-groomed prior to visits.
- Dogs must be spayed/neutered, fully vaccinated, microchipped and registered with their local council.
- Animals must be assessed by a veterinarian as in good health. Animals with chronic conditions that are painful and/or affect mobility will not be considered for therapy work.
Animals that show signs of fearfulness or aggression during the behavioural assessment will not be accepted into the programme
How to apply
You will need to fill out the online application form below which will be emailed to us.
If you think your dog could bring real value to the lives of those in rest homes and hospitals then we would love to have you on board! If you are able to commit to what this amazing programme needs, submit an application now.
If you have any questions, please contact us on Dunedin.volunteer@spca.nz
Volunteer application
For: Therapy Pet Volunteer at Dunedin Centre
Thank you for your interest in volunteering for SPCA. Volunteers are a vital part of the SPCA team and we simply couldn't do the work we do without the large number of volunteers who donate their time to help the animals.
Please fill out the form below to start your volunteer journey with us. If you need assistance, please call the team at your local SPCA Centre or op shop.
Please note: Our centres and op shops have minimum age requirements to volunteer. For op shops the minimum age is 15 years. For volunteering at a centre, please enquire with them directly if you are under 16 years of age. You may need to provide an up-to-date Ministry of Justice check prior to starting. Please be aware that during the application process we will ask about any medical conditions (physical or mental) we need to be aware of to ensure your safety while volunteering for us.