Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA! Volunteers are an integral part of our lifesaving work and we deeply appreciate their dedication to the homeless animals in our area.

Volunteer Opportunities:

One-day service groups: We can accommodate groups of up to ten people for one-day service. All volunteers must be fourteen years old or older and at least two members of the group must be eighteen years old or older. When groups volunteer with us, we have them help out with special projects, which often includes adding mulch and/or weeding our landscaping or walking trails, cleaning crates, and other much-needed tasks outside the shelter. Groups always have the chance to hang out with cats in our lobby if the majority of your group is 18 years old or older. We generally schedule groups to come in from 10am-1pm Tuesday-Saturday, but with advance notice, we can often be flexible. Please contact the volunteer coordinator at (434) 973-5959×314 or [email protected] to arrange for one-day group service.

Court-ordered or recommended community service: Please fill out an application form here.

Fido Field Trips: Just want to take dogs on trips? Click here.

Long-term adult volunteering: If you are interested in volunteering with us for at least 6 months, we’d be very glad to have your help with a variety of service opportunities, including cat socialization, dog walking, front lobby assistance, Rummage Store help, and fundraising events. Because training volunteers involves significant staff time, we generally ask new volunteers to commit to at least thirty-six hours of service in their first six months with us. To get started as a long-term adult volunteer, please follow the instructions below.

Getting Started as an Adult Long-term Volunteer

1. Submit an online volunteer application here.

2. When the volunteer coordinator accepts your application (within two weeks of submission), you will receive an email with instructions on how to access our online general volunteer orientation.

3. After you complete the general volunteer orientation, you will be able to sign up for more specific volunteer trainings through the Volunteer Manager, depending on what you’d like to help us with. For some volunteer opportunities, including cat socialization, dog walking, and making interactive treats, you will be required to complete additional online trainings. For all volunteer opportunities, you will need to shadow an experienced volunteer or staff member at least once before volunteering independently.

For Current Volunteers: You can access your volunteer profile on Better Impact.