Volunteers

 Volunteers are critical to our rescue

As a volunteer, you will have many opportunities to contribute to our organization and, most importantly, save lives. We are always looking for new dog-lovers to join our community!

Volunteer Opportunities

Transport Day

You could be a dog’s first friend in the Northeast. Our dogs arrive in Pennsylvania after hours on the road from Mississippi, South Carolina, or Tennessee. Their past lives and the long drive can make them unsure of their new future. Handlers at transport help ease them into their new life and get them settled while they wait for their turn to be microchipped and weighed and to be acquainted with their fosters. Whether you walk an older puppy or adult dog around the center or hang in the puppy room, transport handlers are essential to what we do.

To be a handler you need to be 18 or have an adult with you. Transports happen most Saturdays. Whether you help once, once a month, or every weekend, handlers are essential.

Meet and Greets

Handlers at Meet and Greet events are our dogs’ advocates to the public. They speak for our dogs and their needs. They help potential adopters learn about our dogs and what TLC does.

Leads and Co-leads are our ambassadors to the public. They set up and take down the meet-and-greet table. They hand out flyers and answer questions about TLC, upcoming events, our dogs, and our adoption process. They guide potential adopters towards dogs at the event that they may be interested in or towards our binder of dogs at the meet-and-greet table. They keep an eye on how the dogs are doing and help approved adopters when they’ve chosen their possible new family member.

Photographers are our dog’s publicists. They take pictures of the dogs and the event for our social media and our dogs’ profiles. They show our dogs in their best light and help get the word out of our community meet and greets.

To be an events volunteer you need to be 18 or with an adult. Events happen most weekends all around the area. We hold events in Phoenixville, West Chester, King of Prussia, Downingtown, and more. Whether you help once, once a month, or every weekend, event volunteers are essential.

Photography

Photographers are essential for ensuring our dogs put their best foot forward when searching for their forever homes. We need photographers to capture our dogs during events, transports, or profile photoshoots. We also need photographers for our annual 5k fundraiser “Miles for Mutts” and the occasional “Puppy-palooza” (which is as fun as it sounds!)

Applications

Do you enjoy talking on the phone or just want the practice? Application processors call vets and references to collect the information needed to properly assess the applications. And don’t worry, we have a script and plenty of guidance from our experienced volunteers.

Adoption Counselors

Adoption Counselors are the last stop between our dogs and their new homes! They run the adoption appointments and help families assess if they and their resident dogs are a good fit for their chosen TLC dog. They guide dog meets and allow the family to spend a little time getting to know their TLC dog. When it’s a match, they handle the adoption contract and payment of the adoption fee. Then they wave good bye as our TLC dog heads off to their new home!

Every Gear in the TLC Machine

There are so many opportunities, we can’t list them all. Every single role is responsible for keeping TLC going and saving the lives of many dogs. Here are a few more opportunities. If you have one in mind we didn’t list that you think would be of help to TLC and our dogs, please reach out!

  • Helping out with laundry

  • Cleaning up after transport days

  • Taxiing dogs to events, adoption appointments, and vet appointments

  • Fundraising

  • School visits

  • We have tons of volunteering options! You could be a dog’s first friend off of transport! You could be auxiliary support for our fosters! You could help show off our dogs at meet & greets around the area! You could be our photographer capturing the essence of our dogs and what we do! You could be the gear that helps keep everything moving! If you have a skill that could be helpful to TLC and our dogs, we want to hear from you!

  • Get started by filling out our volunteer application.

  • We have a variety of volunteering options - including our Mini Paws junior volunteer program! If you are 4 - 17 years old, fill out our Mini Paws application to get started. 18 and older? Get started with our main volunteer application.

    Minors can join in with most of our opportunities when accompanied by an adult. You can also find out more about our youth programs here.

  • A love of dogs and a wish to help them!

    Each of our volunteer opportunities have different levels of commitment but many just require a few hours when you are available. Processing applications is normally done during the week whereas our community events and transports are normally weekend activities.

Volunteer FAQs