The New Fairfield/Sherman Animal Welfare Society (NFSAW) is stepping up its search for walkers, playmates, and overall comfort humans with a new monthly orientation. With a lean staff that is focused on the daily care of all animals, volunteers play a vital role in creating a high quality of life for the shelter’s inhabitants.
NFSAW’s volunteer program starts with a simple application—find it at Nfsaw.org—that can be completed digitally. After a brief discussion with a staff member, volunteers who are interested in working with dogs will attend one of the new monthly training sessions. Volunteering with cats requires no formal training, beyond on-the-spot sessions. Shelter Coordinator Brealynn White explained that the new volunteers will receive information about the shelter in general, plus learn how to handle the dogs. After they complete orientation, volunteers are “welcome to come in and walk our dogs.” Brealynn explained, after several weeks of walking dogs on site, volunteers are allowed to take them off site or next door to Great Hollow.
The volunteer program is “primarily about enrichment and love” for the animals, Brealynn said. “One major thing that we’re training our volunteers for is to keep the dogs calm in the kennel,” she went on to say, which anyone who has entered a shelter and witnessed the cacophony that can occur will understand. “We try to avoid that to try and make the dogs as calm as possible. So, all of the handling techniques that we use are positive reinforcement and calming handling.” Through the training process, staff will help find good matches for volunteers based on a five-tiered, color-coded system that starts with green for their easiest, most friendly pups. In addition to walks, volunteers will help orchestrate play groups, teach socialization, or play with dogs or cats individually.
“I’m happy to prevent the sadness that sometimes occurs in a shelter due to kennel stress, or animals who are just not feeling themselves,” Brealynn said. In turn, she said they consistently find “that the volunteers have a truly rewarding experience.”
Volunteers are needed at the shelter, daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Brealynn explained that timing is flexible, but volunteers typically come in for the morning or afternoon. There are many tasks available to volunteers beyond animal interactions at the shelter including organizing the pet food supply pantry, helping plan events, and more.
There are many volunteers who have been involved at the shelter for over a decade, in addition to several newcomers. Also, a robust junior program is in place, with teens earning community service in exchange for time working with the cats. There is also a “virtual” volunteer program for people who want to help remotely by baking treats, making blankets, organizing donation drives, and more.
Interested in volunteering? Fill out the aforementioned application at Nfsaw.org—you will receive a reply from shelter staff in a few days and you will be a welcome addition to the next dog orientation on Saturday, March 25 at four o’clock.
By Sarah Opdahl