Give your time, and get so much in return.
Catskill Animal Sanctuary operates with a small full-time staff, so we rely on caring and dedicated volunteers for much of what we do. If you love animals and want to help create a more compassionate world for all beings, volunteer at the Sanctuary.
Our volunteers assist with animal care, business administration, Compassionate Cuisine, youth programming, weekend tours, outreach, events, special projects, and more.
To Volunteer:
- View our volunteer opportunities below.
- If you are a group looking to schedule a time to volunteer, please email us at volunteer@casanctuary.org with a time-frame, indicating your area of interest.
- If you are an individual, please email volunteer@casanctuary.org to learn about our volunteer requirements.
- Remember to check back often, since we’re always working on something new!
If you want to stay in-the-loop about all our volunteer opportunities, like us on Facebook!
Volunteer Tours Greeter
Catskill Animal Sanctuary is seeking a dedicated volunteer to join us during our weekend public tours! Every Saturday and Sunday from May through November, we welcome many individuals to meet the rescued animal residents of CAS on public tours. We are seeking a seasonal part-time volunteer to serve as a front-facing greeter, who will assist with welcoming our guests, tour check in, and general program assistance. (Please note: this is an unpaid volunteer position).
Responsibilities include:
1) Helping visitors experience the sanctuary as a welcoming, educational, unique, safe, and friendly environment.
2) Checking in guests using a pre-made spreadsheet and hand stamps.
3) Orient visitors to the Sanctuary by providing information on tour prices and schedule, where to buy tickets, what visitors can do before their tour, location of restrooms, and where they may wait for tours.
4) Escorting guests to their tours.
5) Enforce visitor guidelines in a friendly and firm manner.
7) Monitoring the premises for any late arrivals or safety concerns.
8) Promoting the Sanctuary’s additional programming to weekend visitors.
9) Ensure safety of rescued animals, which includes monitoring visitor interactions with them, and keeping free-roaming residents from walking off Sanctuary property.
10) Perform basic clean-up of the tour waiting area (removal of tree branches, leftover water bottles, etc.)
11) Maintain ongoing communication on weekend days with Welcome Hut and Tours staff regarding tours.
The ideal candidate has excellent communication and customer service skills, and a commitment to our mission. The candidate must also be able to be outdoors in a wide range of weather conditions and to manage their responsibilities without needing supervision.
Schedule (Seasonal: May through November)
Days: Saturday and/or Sunday
Time: 10:30am-2pm
Please note: Greeters do not need to be available both Saturday or Sunday during our open season, but should be able to commit to at least one weekend day per week.
Interested candidates, please email us at info@casanctuary.org with the information below:
In your message, please include a resume, and any additional information you would like us to know! We look forward to hearing from you.
Our Animal Care department is responsible for the overall health and wellbeing of our 300+ animal residents. We need approximately four to eight volunteers each day to assist our staff with animal care-related tasks. Typical volunteer activities include:
- Mucking barns and coops
- Pasture cleaning
- Cleaning and filling water dishes and troughs
- Restocking hay/straw/shavings
- Washing dishes, chopping produce and other kitchen tasks
Business Administration volunteers provide office support to the various departments needed to keep the Sanctuary running and mission focused. Typical volunteer activities include:
- Filing, photocopying and shredding
- Data entry
- Maintenance of office space
- Processing online sales orders for shipping
- Running errands for office personnel
Our Outreach department is responsible for raising awareness of the Sanctuary’s emergency rescue work and innovative educational programs, as well as increasing stakeholder engagement. In addition, the Outreach team oversees special fundraising and educational events.
Typical volunteer activities include:
- Representing the Sanctuary at vegan/vegetarian food festivals, animal rights and environmental conferences, and other networking events
- Helping plan and execute on- and off-site special events
- Assisting with research projects and data entry
- Performing other tasks and duties, as assigned
Our Outreach department oversees the creation, planning and execution of special events, including but not limited to Cocktails & CowTales, our annual fundraiser in New York City; Shindig, our on-site summer festival; and Gobble & Groove, our on-site fall festival.
Typical volunteer activities include:
- Setting up, breaking down and cleaning up
- Greeting guests and processing check-ins
- Directing parking during on-site events
- Staffing raffle, silent auction and merchandise tables
- Serving food
- Soliciting and securing product donations for raffles/auctions
- Ensuring the safety of animal residents during on-site events
- Performing other tasks and duties, as assigned
There are many special projects at the Sanctuary that contribute to our mission of rescuing, protecting and caring for farmed animals in need. Due to our limited resources, most of these projects cannot be completed without the time and special skills of volunteers.
We will update this section of our Volunteer page regularly to inform you of our needs related to special projects.
Currently, Catskill Animal Sanctuary is seeking volunteers for the following special projects:
1. Interior Painting – Welcome Hut (weekdays only)
2. Exterior Painting – Fences, Buildings, and Portable Shelters
Individuals with an interest in volunteering professional skills (e.g., carpentry, engineering, inventory management, data processing, marketing, landscaping, mechanics, etc.) on or off-site are encouraged to apply.
Offsite opportunities vary throughout the year and may include assisting with the promotion of special projects, event support, identifying and procuring donations of money and/or supplies, and more.
We will post offsite and special project opportunities when they are available, so please check back, sign up for our newsletter to receive updates or email jobs@casanctuary.org with your idea for how you want to help!
Important Information
For your safety, as well as the safety of our animal residents, the minimum age to volunteer is 15 years old. (All minors will need a parent or guardian to sign our volunteer waiver on their first visit)
To operate any Sanctuary vehicles or equipment, all volunteers (of any age) must have a valid license and be trained and approved by staff.
Please email your request to volunteer@casanctuary.org! We look forward to having you at the Sanctuary soon!
If you have volunteered at the Sanctuary before, please email us at volunteer@casanctuary.org to get on our calendar, ideally at least seven days prior to your requested shift to allow us to schedule accordingly. After submission, a Sanctuary staff member will contact you to confirm.
Please Note: When you commit to a volunteer shift, you become a valuable member of our team and play an important role in the success of the Sanctuary’s mission. Our staff scheduling and task assignments are based on the assumption requested and confirmed volunteer shifts will be filled. For that reason, we ask that you please refrain from making a commitment that you may not be able to fulfill. If you are not available to complete your confirmed volunteer shift(s), please send an email to volunteer@casanctuary.org as far in advance as possible. By doing so, the Sanctuary may be able to fill the shift with another volunteer or staff member.
If there are more than four members in your group, please email volunteer@casanctuar.org to schedule your volunteer shift.
If you have any special needs or service animals, please contact us directly at volunteer@casanctuary.org so we can plan volunteer activities for you ahead of time.
1. Check the weather forecast for zip code 12477, and dress/pack accordingly.
2. Wear weatherproof clothes and boots that you wouldn’t mind getting muddy.
3. Bring work gloves, if you have them.
4. Bring sunscreen and rain gear, as needed.
5. Pack a vegan ‘brown bag’ lunch (no meat or dairy, please, out of respect for the animals).
