Thank you for your interest in learning about volunteering with Patty Baker Humane Society Naples! Our volunteers are integral members of our team, and they play a vital role in helping us achieve our life-saving mission.

Volunteers support us in various ways such as administrative functions, animal care, community outreach and events, donation sorting, driving, housekeeping and pet food pantry support.

 

PBHSN VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
How to Become a Volunteer

Volunteering with PBHSN starts online and finishes on the shelter floor with a mentor beside you. Here’s exactly what happens, start to finish.

Most of the early steps you can do at home, at your own pace. For those who will volunteer with our animals, you won’t be asked to work with an animal on your own until someone has trained you in person and signed off that you’re ready.

The Process at a Glance

Step 1 — Submit your application
Fill out the online volunteer application. You must be a minimum of 14 years to volunteer and 18 years to handle dogs. Volunteers ages 14–17 are welcome in cat handling and most other roles, and will need a parent or guardian to provide consent as part of signing up.

Step 2 — We review your application and match you to a role
A member of our volunteer team reviews your application and matches you with a pathway that fits your availability, comfort level, and interests. Roles fall into several families, and you can train for one, then add others later:

• Cleaning roles — kennel and cat room cleaning, laundry, dishes, play yards and catio upkeep. This is hands-on animal care and the fastest route to your first shift.
• Handling roles — walking, moving, and directly interacting with the dogs and cats.
• Pet Services roles — answering phone calls and greeting guests.
• Event roles — offsite or onsite events for fundraising, outreach, or adoptions.
• Transport roles — helping move animals or supplies to and from facilities.

Step 3 — Complete core online orientation
Two short self-paced modules everyone takes, whatever role you’re heading for:

• Welcome and Mission — who we are, what we do, and where volunteers fit in.
• Safety on Every Shift — the safety basics that apply to every volunteer, every time.

Step 4 — Take your role training
If you’re heading into an animal-care role, you’ll take the online module for your path — dog handling, dog cleaning, cat handling, or cat cleaning — each ending with a short quiz. The quiz is open book, you can retake it as many times as you need, and you get feedback on every question. It’s there to make sure the important details stick, not to catch you out.

If you’re joining Pet Services, Events, or Transport, your role-specific training happens in person alongside your mentor, so you can skip ahead to Step 5.

Step 5 — Talk with the Volunteer Coordinator and sign your forms
Once you’ve completed your orientation and any role module, you’ll sign your volunteer agreement and waivers. We deliberately put this step after orientation so you’re signing with a clear picture of what the work involves. You’ll also talk with our Volunteer Coordinator to go over your schedule, answer your questions, and confirm the role is a good fit both ways — and this is where your first training shift gets scheduled.

Step 6 — Come in for a mentored training shift
Your first time on the floor, you’re paired with an experienced mentor who walks you through the work in real conditions. Everything physical — how to leash a dog, how to lift a cat, how a kennel actually gets cleaned, how to answer our phones, how to sort donations — is taught here, in person, not online.

Step 7 — Get your competency sign-off and start regular shifts
When your mentor is satisfied you can do the work safely and confidently, they sign you off for that role. From there you’re cleared to sign up for regular shifts on your own. Ready to add another role later? Reach out to the Volunteer Coordinator and they will send any related modules and quizzes for that area, then get you scheduled for training.

Good to Know

You don’t have to learn everything at once.
Handling and cleaning are trained and signed off separately. Many volunteers start with a cleaning role, get comfortable in the building, and add handling later.

Online covers knowledge, in person covers skill.
Nothing hands-on is certified from behind a screen. The modules teach you our policies, our safety rules, and our cleaning protocols; your mentor teaches you the technique.

Questions are always welcome.
At any point in the process — or on any shift, forever after — asking a staff member is always the right call.