Start an Animal SanctuaryHow to Help Animals

Photo Credit: FarmSanctuary.org

If you love animals, want to stand up for animal rights and need to make a living, then you may want to explore the possibilities of working in an animal sanctuary or for an animal rights organization. This is a great option for people who cannot afford to start their own sanctuary, or simply need more experience with animals and the running of a shelter.

Are You Suited to Working in an Animal Sanctuary?

To work in an animal sanctuary you need to have a huge love of animals. The work can be hard and somewhat draining, so a true desire to help animals will make this so much easier. As well as loving spending time with animals, it is important to be compassionate. Rescued animals have sometimes been through hard times. They may be traumatized and have behavioral problems. They could be skittish or even aggressive. Patience and empathy are needed to help these animals.

Working for an animal rights organization is suited to both practical (hands on) people and people who are more academic. There are jobs available working with the animals and others where you can work in the office and on animal rights campaigns.

You may want to look into the kind of animal shelter/organization you are applying for a job at. Some may be no-kill shelters, but others may take in so many cats and dogs etc that they have little option but to euthanize some of these animals. This can be very hard to deal with, especially if you are very sensitive (like me). If you find this hard to deal with you may want to apply at no kill shelters or an office job involving animal rights.

You must try and remember that euthanasia is sometimes the kindest option, especially for very sick animals. This is why it is essential to spread the message to spay and neuter pets, so that less animals are euthanised in shelters. Some organizations like the RSPCA will put healthy animals to sleep even if there is another option. If you can get on the inside of one of these organizations, perhaps you could help bring about change.

You have more chance of getting a job in animal rights if you have shown a true commitment to the cause. Gain experience by volunteering at a shelter, or perhaps organize protests and leafleting campaigns in your local area.

Many animal sanctuaries advocate vegetarianism and veganism. Out of respect for the animals you work with/for you should consider changing your diet to a more compassionate one.

A qualification in animal care may help you get a job and if you are a qualified vet or veterinary nurse even better!

What Kind of Jobs Are Available in an Animal Sanctuary?

Many sanctuaries do not have the funds to employ anyone and rely heavily on volunteers, but larger (better funded) sanctuaries and organizations employ people in many different roles. You could be a shelter manager, animal carer, driver, receptionist, administrator, accountant, campaign organizer, fund raising manager, vet, vet nurse, animal behaviorist, education organizer, school speaker, employee trainer. There are other jobs you may not even have thought of.

How Much Money Can You Make?

Generally jobs in not for profit organizations such as animal sanctuaries and animal rights organizations are low paid. People who work in this field, do not do it for the money. They do it for the love of the animals and a desire to bring about change. Of course you will be paid a livable wage and this will vary from place to place. Your compensation will be huge in that you will have a very rewarding job and will be making a difference in the world. You will also be gaining valuable experience if one day you plan to start your own sanctuary or non profit organization.

How Will You Be Able to Help Animals?

Working as part of an animal rights organization or a sanctuary is a great way to help animals. You may already volunteer, write letters and take part in protests and you will know how great it feels to be proactive and part of bringing about change. Imagine how great you would feel if that was part of your 9-5 job.

You can make a difference to individual animals lives as well as progressing the movement as a whole. Working with animals really is a wonderful way to spend your life.

Consider Volunteering

There are limited paid jobs available in the sanctuary and animal rights movement. A great way to get your foot in the door is to volunteer or become an intern. You can gain loads of knowledge and hands on experience.

Even if it does not lead to a job volunteering is a wonderful thing to do in your spare time and can make a huge difference to the organization. It also looks good on your resume when you apply for other jobs.

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Where as the point of a pet animal sanctuary is clear (to rescue and re-home unwanted pets), a farm animal sanctuary causes some people to scratch their heads. After all there is no way that we could rescue all the farm animals from abuse and slaughter. In fact the tiny amount that are rescued by a farm sanctuary do not even make a dent in the huge amount of abuse faced by the rest of their species.

The point of a farm sanctuary is not to rescue every farmed animal. There is no way anyone could.  Of course each animal that is rescued from slaughter, factory farming or whatever life of abuse they suffered is an individual and this is an important point to remember. Each and every life saved is worth the effort, care and love. At least a few farm animals will have the chance to express their natural behavior and live a life free from abuse, suffering and a horrific death.

In the scheme of things though, most people in the animal rights movement will see the most important role of these sanctuaries as education. Farm sanctuaries that open to the public give both kids and adults a chance to get up close and personal with farm animals, probably for the first time in their lives. Watching videos from the huge Farm Sanctuary in the USA, you can see members of the public giving a blissful pig a belly scratch, cuddling a chicken or stroking a turkey. They can watch these animals expressing their natural behaviors and see how much they enjoy it.

Many people will just come for a fun day out with the kids (everyone loves animals right?), but will leave with fresh knowledge that these animals are sentient beings capable of a wide variety of feelings. They will also see these animals as they should be kept. These experiences can be enough for some people to begin questioning the way they live and the choices they make.

It is a good idea to have an education centre at the sanctuary so that people can learn more about the animals they meet and the inhumane way they are treated on modern farms. Even if a small percentage of these people decide to make the change to vegetarian or veganism then it is worth it. There are opportunities for schools to spend the day at some farm sanctuaries. Imagine the impact that day could have on the kids.

I think a compassionate life is a life worth living and by starting a farm sanctuary I hope to join others in not only saving individual animals and giving them a safe and happy life, but also in educating the public and advocating for change.

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One of the best things I have ever done was my volunteer work at an animal sanctuary in the UK (where I used to live). I had always loved animals and I was a vegetarian at the time, but it was the time spent at the sanctuary that made it clear to me that one day I wanted to run my own sanctuary. I had no idea that it would be here in NSW Australia, but I knew that I wanted to make helping animals my life.

For anyone who is considering making saving animals their life, it is a great idea to spend some time volunteering. Not only can you help a charity and gain valuable hands on experience with animals, but you can also get an idea of whether the sanctuary lifestyle is really for you. Volunteering can be a real eye opener. It shows you the good, such as when an animal is placed in a wonderful home, or when you are able to offer refuge to stray animals and the bad, such as when animals fall ill, or die. You can also see the huge costs involved in food, care, shelter and veterinary treatment.

The sanctuary I volunteered at was fairly small, but was a wonderful refuge to many animals. There were around 70 cats, rabbits, rats, chinchillas, geese, chickens, ducks, 2 white donkeys Ivy and Noel and Dennis, the naughty Shetland pony. We also had a wonderful Jersey cow named Annabel. There were only ever a few dogs at a time, but the dogs that came in were all placed in wonderful new homes.

I usually helped out (along with my best friend Melissa) in the morning and our first job was to clean out around 5o cat litter trays (some cats shared). That was a smelly way to start the day, but once all the animals were clean, fed and watered it felt wonderful and we would start on the huge pile of washing up.

After all the daily chores we would enjoy walking the dogs, or making play areas for the chinchillas or rabbits. It was a really great time.

I have also volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary, horse sanctuary and I have helped out with admin work at the offices of various animal rights organizations.

If you would like to volunteer for an animal sanctuary or animal rights organization do a Google search for your local groups. For example, if you live in Sydney you could search for: ‘Sydney animal sanctuary’. Then take a look through the results and see whether any websites come up that offer volunteer opportunities. If you know of smaller organizations that may not have a website, just contact them by phone and ask if they would like any help. Even if you only have one day free a week, you could make a difference to a charity and gain experience.

This year I am busy working my butt off, saving for a deposit for the farm sanctuary I plan to set up, but I would also like to gain a little more experience. I know there is an RSPCA shelter near me, which would accept volunteers, but I plan to research to see whether there are any other organizations around the area.

The RSPCA do some things differently than I would. I worked briefly at another branch of the RSPCA and although I saw many animals come in and find new and happy homes I also saw many things that disturbed me. Examples included purposefully giving volunteers grotty jobs (like dealing with dead animals), so as not to have to bother to teach them properly and putting healthy animals to sleep when there was still room in the shelter.

I am sure other branches of the RSPCA would not treat volunteers so badly, as usually volunteers are highly valued and relied upon by these organizations.

If you do want to volunteer at an RSPCA branch you could begin to make a difference from the inside and perhaps help the animals. There are many staff within the RSPCA that care deeply for animals. However it only takes a few people (especially if they are managers, or in a powerful position) to well and truly mess things up.

If you are a volunteer leave a comment and let us know what you have been doing. If you cannot commit to running your own animal sanctuary, volunteering or fostering rescued animals could be a great way to help animals, whilst you continue on your own path.

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