>>2018855
If it's what you want to do, and think it'll benefit you and the animals, I say go for it.
I've never volunteered before, but I heard it's not exactly what you'd expect.

>>2018865
>I heard it's not exactly what you'd expect
In a positive or negative way though? I mean, I don't want to volunteer at a shelter only to end up bitten by an angry dog.
Really, a lot of things in life turn out differently from what you expect.

>>2018870
I can't say exactly because I work in an American shelter, but in my experience it's kinda hard to get bitten as a volunteer unless you're either a massive moron that can't read basic dog body language, or blatantly ignore the kennel staff on what a certain dog will or will not tolerate or which dogs you shouldn't try handling. when I was volunteering before I got hired (several years) I was bitten by several cats, but not any of the dogs.

but what many say when they mean "not what you expect" is that it isn't exactly all sunshine and puppy tails. depending on what area you volunteer in, there can be a lot of poop, boisterous dogs, cleaning, etc. and there are times that certain situations will make you sad (a dog you liked having to be euthanized for medical reasons, things like that). one thing that can help is volunteering at a "higher end" shelter. usually they prioritize giving the volunteers the fun jobs.

that being said, I think volunteering in a shelter is a great thing to do. it's great seeing your hard work pay off in caring for something that cannot care for itself. and something that's pretty universal in all shelters is that you will NEVER be forced to interact with an animal that you don't feel comfortable with. no one will judge you for it, it's completely normal

>>2018877
I know that there may be cleaning stuff to do. But still, I am not sure if it is worth it. I think I can only volunteer regularly during summer. Also, I need to pay 30 euros (sorry not 300 euros as in my first post - that was a typo) for the training courses. I also need to pay to go to the shelter to volunteer (i.e. transport fees). I am technically better off finding a part time tutoring job.

>>2018855
You'll get attached to the animals and the shelter knows this so they move them up on the kill list just to bring you down.

>>2018877
>you will NEVER be forced to interact with an animal that you don't feel comfortable with. no one will judge you for it

>My experience has been sunshine and rainbows so it's physically impossible for other people to run into assholes

>>2018916
even if I haven't worked at two shelters and volunteered with numerous others, I'd still stand by that. plus if you think a shelter would force someone to interact with an animal they felt uncomfortable with, you clearly don't understand a damn thing about volunteering in general, certainly not in a shelter. if they even tried, the volunteer would just leave. it makes no sense. plus that's when a bite is more likely to happen, and that's the last thing they want

one of the shelters I was at was a shithole county stray intake in SoCal that euthanized more than they adopted out, and even they wouldn't make volunteers work with dogs they didn't feel comfortable with

plus "sunshine and rainbows" is a damn far stretch from what I said. I was just reassuring OP that getting bitten wasn't likely to happen if they use their head

>>2018891
in all honesty, if a shelter made me pay for volunteer training I'd probably not do it. that's a red flag in my eyes about their ethics, but that's just my opinion. are there any other groups in the area?

>>2019334
>red flag in my eyes about their ethics
How so?
This shelter is closest to my home (only three train stations again). Others are further away.

>>2019334
Another thing. Another shelter in my city charges 10 euros for its compulsory volunteer training program, another explicitly states that inexperienced volunteers are in charge of cleaning catteries/kennels and the other shelters seem far too remote for me.

bump again