Volunteer -- Furry Friends Barrie

Join our amazing team of volunteers!

Show your compassion for vulnerable animals in a really practical way by donating your time and energy. All aspects of Furry Friends are run by hard-working volunteers at the shelter, in the community, and from your own home. We have different ways you can share your time and talent:

1. Foster Parents
Become a foster parent and provide loving, in-home care for: Kittens, pregnant moms and moms with babies, cats with special needs, cats recovering from surgery, and kitties who need some one-on-one care to develop their social skills.

As a short-term foster family, Furry Friends covers the cost of all medical care and food while the cat is living with you. This commitment usually lasts between 2-16 weeks and is geared towards mothers, babies, and recovering cats.

As a long-term foster family, Furry Friends covers the cost of all medical care while the cat is living with you, while you provide the food. This commitment can be ongoing, or as a ‘forever foster’. This is usually geared towards special needs cats such as diabetic or renal support kitties.

2. Shelter Support

There are many ways volunteers can support cats in our shelter. Our rescue houses upwards of 70 cats at any given time, and tasks to care for these fabulous felines include mopping, sweeping, cleaning litter bins, cages, carriers, washing laundry, bending, lifting, and scooping.

Shelter Volunteers are responsible for the daily upkeep of our general shelter area: Feeding and watering the cats, cleaning their enclosures, scooping litter, washing laundry, and ensuring that the cat’s living environment is safe and comfortable. Shelter volunteers work closely with the kitties as they get ready for adoption, and are present from the day a cat arrives to the joyful moment they find homes. Shelter shifts are a 2-3 hour commitment once per week.

Med Room Volunteers are responsible for the daily upkeep of our special needs and medical care cats: Feeding and watering the cats, cleaning their enclosures, scooping litter, and ensuring that the cat’s living environment is safe and comfortable. In addition to these tasks, Med Room Volunteers are responsible for giving medication such as pills, eye drops, and ointments, recording detailed observations on a cat’s daily habits, and ensuring that our kitties recover smoothly from whatever ails them. Med Room shifts are a 2-3 hour commitment once per week.

Vet Runners are volunteers who are responsible for taking our cats to and from their vet appointments. A vet runner may drop off a cat for surgery in the morning, pick them up in the evening to bring them back to our shelter, or taxi a kitty to a check-up throughout the day. All of our partner clinics are located within Barrie. Most vet appointments are scheduled Monday-Friday from 8am to 6pm, and so vet runners must have some availability throughout the week during this time.

First Responder Volunteers tackle phone messages and emails from the public - These may include surrender or adoption inquiries, lost and found pet questions, and other forms of communication. This is a position which can be done from home.

Maintenance Volunteers are handy folks who can help with repairs around our shelter, source vendors/parts, and collaborate on in-house building and upkeep projects.

3. Adoption Support

Volunteers can help kitties find permanent, loving homes in a number of ways:

Adoption Interview Volunteers are responsible for interviewing potential adoption candidates to ensure that they are a good fit for our cats. They follow up with applications, review qualifications, and may approve or decline potential adopters. This is a position which can be done from home.

Petsmart Volunteers attend our monthly events at the South end 33 Mapleview Drive Petsmart adoption center to care for our cats who are looking for their forever homes by feeding and upkeep their enclosures, as well as to interview potential adopters and process applications.

4. Fundraising Support

Event Volunteers are folks who can help us man fundraising tables at community events, garage sales, and more within the community.

Donation Box Volunteers help regularly collect the money from our shelter’s donation boxes which are placed at retailers throughout our community.

Delta Bingo Volunteers fill shifts at the Delta Bingo & Gaming center in return for funding towards dental care for our cats and kittens.

We are always on the lookout for items that we can use as prizes for raffles, sell in our auction, or otherwise fundraise with. If you have connections within our community with local businesses or just love pounding the pavement and gathering goodies, we’d love to have you on the team.

Volunteers are the heart of Furry Friends. With no paid staff we rely entirely on the hard work of over 150 ultra compassionate cat lovers to ensure that every day, our fabulous felines are given the utmost care.

As we work towards rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming close to 500 cats and kittens in need every year, your precious time will be well spent as a member of our awesome team

Apply now...

To become a volunteer, please complete an online application forms:

1. Foster Parent foster application form - If you have room in your home and heart, please consider applying to join our amazing team of fosters.

2. General volunteer application form - All of our in-shelter positions are currently full, but we are eagerly recruiting new helping hands to join our amazing team as vet runners! Please note that you will not receive a response if you are applying for full positions, thank you for your interest!

A Furry Friends representative will contact you to talk more about your interests and availability. Submission of an application does not guarantee placement. Volunteers are required to sign the Furry Friends Volunteer Agreement form.

For more information, please contact us at volunteer@furryfriendsbarrie.com.