Volunteer

Volunteer Opportunities

The Rhode Island SPCA is always looking for volunteers! E-mail our Volunteer and Foster Manager, Brittany, to get started!

Join us for our next open house, Saturday, October 10th at 10am, for a quick tour of the building and overview of our volunteer program!

*Small animal and cat volunteers must be 16+ and kennel volunteers must be 18+

DOG’S DAY OUT 

The warm weather is finally here in Rhode Island and our dogs are ready to head out and explore our tiny state as part of our Dogs Day Out Program. 

Dogs Day Out provides: 

  • ENRICHMENT - Field trips provide mental and physical enrichment, improving the animal's quality of life.

  • CONNECTION - Field trips connect shelter dogs with people/ the “outside world”

  • ENGAGEMENT - Field trips bring the community together to improve the lives of our shelter dogs while gaining valuable knowledge that will aid in the search for loving adopters.

For more information, please e-mail Brittany.Diprete@rispca.org

Court-ordered Community Service

We are currently accepting participants for court-ordered community service*. Those interested should email Brittany with how many hours are needed, when they are due, what they were ordered for, and your availability. We are not able to accommodate requests with a due date of less than a month’s notice.

*Participants will not have direct, hands on animal interaction.

Volunteer Opportunities for Students!

Youth Volunteers (14+)!

We welcome volunteers as young as 14 years of age. Volunteers must attend at least two one-on-one, supervised trainings and must demonstrate they are capable of following directions, working independently, and using safe handling procedures with animals in our shelter space. If you are a teen interested in volunteering, please email our volunteer coordinator at Brittany.DiPrete@rispca.org.

School Projects!

Thank you for your interest in learning more about the Rhode Island SPCA for your project! Before submitting a request form, please read the following:

  • Animal interactions are not available for student projects.

  • If your project requires information about our organization, please review our website for answers first before submitting a request.

Onsite Service Opportunities: Include gardening, yard work, and enrichment projects to support our shelter animals. 

Offsite Service Opportunities: Include donation drives, fundraisers, building or construction projects, or enrichment projects to support our shelter animals.

Filming or Video:
You may visit the RISPCA during our open hours daily from 11am-4pm. You are welcome to film in any of the public areas. Please ask any staff or volunteers for permission before filming them.

Staff Support:
If you have further questions or need information from a staff member for your project, please email Stephanie with your name, mentor's name and email, project due date, and 1-2 sentences describing your project goals. We only accept project requests from September to February 1st. Project requests submitted after this deadline will not be considered.