Volunteer & Foster

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We are so excited you are looking to join our volunteer program with the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter (PRAS). Being involved as a volunteer at PRAS is such a rewarding path! Not only are you directly making a difference with the animals we care for but also our community. Your skills and talent will become an asset to our organization and we hope to also share with you our deep love for what we do in this profession. We are so eager to bring you into our pretty paw-some team of other volunteers, fosters and staff.

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PRAS offers many different opportunities for our volunteers to be involved and make a difference. Some of our in shelter activities are animal care & enrichment, dog walking, cat socialization, helping with adoption meet and greets, and more! We also offer out of shelter opportunities such as fostering a pet in your home, K9 Field Trips: Expawditions and events!

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PRAS has a robust and growing foster program that provides all supplies and support for families to care for a PRAS Pet. From adult cats & kittens, to bottle baby kittens, adult dogs & puppies, rabbits and more we have a need for homes. As the saying goes, “Fostering Saves Lives”, and that couldn’t be truer when you foster for PRAS. As one of the largest open intake shelters in Virginia we are always looking for ways to place pets in foster homes due to the volume of animals we are caring for in our shelter.

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At any given time PRAS can have up to 115+ cats and kittens in foster care, 10+ dogs, and a variety of pocket pets. The benefits to fostering helps us learn true and accurate personality and behavioral information so we can better pair animals for the adopters in our community. You get to not only be a lifesaver for that pet but also make a difference for families looking to adopt.

Foster

For Foster specific questions please email: pras-foster@nnva.gov

  • Age: To have an animal assigned to you as a Foster Caregiver you MUST be 18 years of age or older.
  • Documents Required: You must have a PRAS Liability Waiver signed and on file & non Conviction Statement ( all provided to you digitally when you apply).
  • Distance: You must live within 1 hour of PRAS to be eligible to foster.

Volunteers

For specific Volunteer questions please email: pras-volunteer@nnva.gov

  • Age: PRAS allows ages 16-17 to volunteer as long as a parent is present at Orientation to sign release documents and waivers.
  • Documents Required: PRAS also has every person volunteering on behalf of PRAS sign a Non Conviction Statement indicating they have never been convicted of animal cruelty (all provided to you digitally when you apply).
  • PRAS completes a background on all volunteers who provide services in shelter * If you are attending a onetime event we have a single event waiver.
Complete Volunteer or Foster Survey

Remote Projects

At this time PRAS does not have an accurate way to provide and log hours for remote projects. Continue to check back periodically for this to change!

PRAS is currently working to rebuild their Community Service Program. Continue to check back for when we are accepting applications.

Community Service Program

Are you looking for short term volunteer opportunities? PRAS has a growing community service program for members in our community that are looking for focused project work. Community Services hours for PRAS are project/task based activities that are not directly associated to working with animals. This program directly corresponds to individuals needing to have hours completed within a designated time frame. These activities allow a person to come in and quickly complete their hours as needed.

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