Volunteer
BDAR Adoption event
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Black Dog Animal Rescue (BDAR). It is a simple truth that organizations like ours could not exist and continue to save lives, without the dedication, compassion, and hard work of volunteers. Working with rescue animals is often frustrating and heart-breaking. It can also be tremendously rewarding and help you and your family to build an understanding of other sentient beings and how their lives are so closely impacted by our own. We have several volunteer opportunities and this list is not all-inclusive. Whether you have a few hours a week, or are willing and able to open up your home to an animal in need, we can find ways for you to contribute on a meaningful level.
Become a foster family: This volunteer position requires a large amount of commitment and mental and emotional investment. Because of this, it is also the hardest volunteer position for us to fill. If you have a strong desire to help animals and would like to make a huge difference for individual dogs, this may be the option for you. Additionally, it is the most flexible in terms of when you can do things because you set your own schedule around your house. Often times, dogs coming from shelters are traumatized. They need extra time and devotion to learn to trust people again. Most of the time they do not have any basic obedience skills, are unlikely to be house trained, and need to be taught good manners. Dogs like this spend a long time in rescue because the average person wants a “ready-made” pet who doesn’t’t have any emotional issues and already knows how to behave themselves indoors and around new people. This is where compassionate and patient foster homes come in. Foster parents are extraordinary people who realize the emotional toll abandonment has taken on these poor animals and are willing to give them the time and instruction, on a daily basis, that they will need to succeed in an adoptive home. We prefer that foster homes have previous experience with animals and are willing to take their foster to obedience courses provided by BDAR. This is an amazing opportunity to get your family involved in the process of life-saving and to teach responsibility and commitment. We currently have very few dedicated foster families and are searching for more.
Foster for a Day: This is a great program for those who wish to spend time with a certain animal or who want to experiment with becoming a full-time foster parent. Dogs can be picked up from the sanctuary at 8am and be returned the following day at the same time. It is expected that during this time, you will take your dog out for exercise, keep them in the house with you, and reinforce general manners such as not jumping up on visitors, not going potty in the house, and chewing only on appropriate items. We also think this is a great way for dogs to get some one-on-one time with a loving family. We will ask that upon returning your dog, you fill out an evaluation form for him/her so that we can get to know them better also when placing them into permanent homes.
Fundraising and Marketing: BDAR is run solely off of donations from the public. We are constantly trying to raise awareness of our mission and to gain financial support to continue pursuing it. This includes making and distributing of flyers, pamphlets, brochures, posters, etc. Additionally, events held every few months for the purpose of raising money require sponsors and donations. If you have any experience in this type of venue and would like to donate your time and resources to help us, please do!
Saturday obedience classes: On Saturdays at 10am at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter, Harlene Larkey of Paws-Wise dog training will be holding on-going obedience classes. If you have the time on these mornings to commit to taking a dog to the class, it would be a great experience for you and the animal. Note: this opportunity is not always available
Please click here to fill in the form to volunteer for any of these great opportunities or to let us know what you can do to help.
Or download the PDF form and mail it to: Black Dog Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 2435, Cheyenne, WY 82003
