Overview
The Animal Care Assistant is a year-round volunteer position. You will get to know the staff, volunteers, and animals on a personal level, as well as have the opportunity to assist with all aspects of wildlife rehabilitation including: diet preparation, cleaning of rehabilitation cages and pre-release enclosures, facility upkeep (sweeping, mopping, etc), and, once approved by the rehabilitator, hand-feeding.
General Tasks
Assist the clinic staff by cleaning cages, weighing animals, preparing diets and feeding the “self-feeding” animals. The Animal Care Assistant also helps with cleaning and maintaining the facilities, laundry and dishes.
Requirements
Must be at least 18 years of age. The demands of treating so many animals each year (most of them between May and September) require the highest level of commitment from our volunteers. While we certainly work around our volunteer’s other commitments, reliability and dedication to your scheduled shift is absolutely necessary.
* ACA shifts are a minimum of four hours long, between 9 am and 8 pm; these hours could differ during peak season (May – October). ACAs are asked to commit to one full year, are required to volunteer weekly and asked to work the same shift each week. College students who can only commit to the summer should sign up for our College Summer Program.
* The clinic is open seven days a week, year-round.
* Animal care involves the ability to bend and kneel easily, carry buckets of water and food to outdoor enclosures (about 20 pounds), stand for 4 hours, walk unaided and walk on uneven outdoor terrain.
If you have any questions or concerns about these requirements or the application process, please feel free to contact us.
Application
An application can be filled out on-line or downloaded to print. Applicants must also read and sign our volunteer agreement, liability release form and provide a criminal background check.
Although our application requirements may seem strict, working with wildlife is both a great responsibility and a great privilege. Wildlife rehabilitation is strictly regulated by state and federal laws, and Wildbird Recovery does not take that responsibility lightly.