Welcome to the Quincy Animal Shelter!

Welcome to the Quincy Animal Shelter!

Thank you so much for choosing to volunteer with us and our furry friends. Volunteers support every aspect of our organization. Volunteers engage with the community, promote and raise funds for QAS, and provide compassion and care to all shelter animals. We recognize the value of your time and the importance of you being happy and fulfilled in the volunteer work that you perform. We have so many wonderful opportunities available to you, and we are excited to have you as part of our team. We ask that you read these guidelines carefully, and then get ready to have a fun and fulfilling volunteer experience here at the Quincy Animal Shelter!

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Contents

Volunteering at QAS ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 About QAS..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 General Volunteer Criteria............................................................................................................................................ 6 Volunteer Applications ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Job Descriptions ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 Rights........................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Responsibilities ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 Confidentiality............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Join QAS Yahoo Group list .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Volunteer Dress Code ................................................................................................................................................. 12 Cell Phones.................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Social Media ................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Volunteer Do's ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 Please don't................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Conflict Resolution...................................................................................................................................................... 14

General Operations......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Location....................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Telephone ................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Visiting hours .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Shelter Managers........................................................................................................................................................ 15 Board of Directors....................................................................................................................................................... 16 City of Quincy Animal Control..................................................................................................................................... 16

Operational Policies ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 Holding of owned or stray animals ............................................................................................................................. 17 Returning stray animals to owners ............................................................................................................................. 17 Animal intake .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 Owner Surrender .................................................................................................................................................... 18 Strays....................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Stray abandoned at shelter .................................................................................................................................... 21 Dead animals left at shelter .................................................................................................................................... 21 Handling donations ..................................................................................................................................................... 22

Donated goods........................................................................................................................................................ 22 Donated cash or check............................................................................................................................................ 23 Donations in honor of or in memory of an individual or pet ................................................................................. 23 Cage and Kennel Card sponsorships ....................................................................................................................... 23 Injuries while working................................................................................................................................................. 24 Spay/Neuter cat assistance......................................................................................................................................... 24 Feral cat assistance ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 Foster supplies ............................................................................................................................................................ 25 Daily Shift Guidelines ...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Role of Shift Leaders ................................................................................................................................................... 26 Signing in for shifts...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Logging Animal Observations ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Using the clothes washer............................................................................................................................................ 27 Using the clothes dryer ............................................................................................................................................... 28 Using the dishwasher.................................................................................................................................................. 28 Closing up at the end of a shift ................................................................................................................................... 28 Applying medical care................................................................................................................................................. 29 Emergency veterinary care ......................................................................................................................................... 29 Dog Care.......................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Volunteer color coding ............................................................................................................................................... 31 Dog Walking and Handling Guidelines........................................................................................................................ 32 General dog care shift responsibilities ....................................................................................................................... 35 Providing dog treats.................................................................................................................................................... 35 Setting up a new dog kennel ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Limiting disease transmission ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Cat Care........................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Limiting disease transmission ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Cat Cage setup ............................................................................................................................................................ 39 Cat Nail trimming ........................................................................................................................................................ 40 Adult Cat Room cleaning ............................................................................................................................................ 40 Brushing and sanitizing cat combs.............................................................................................................................. 40 Approaching a fearful cat............................................................................................................................................ 41

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Volunteering at QAS

About QAS

The Quincy Animal Shelter is a volunteer-run organization. The Shelter relies completely on our volunteers and the community for support. Incorporated in November 1999 as a non-profit Massachusetts charity, we are also a recognized charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. Since 1999 the Quincy Animal Shelter has placed more than 7,500 cats and dogs into loving and forever homes throughout MA and New England.

As a "no kill" shelter, we make every effort to find the right home for every adoptable animal in our care. This means we exercise the same ethical and humane treatment of animals in our facility that you would for your own family feline or canine friend. Every animal receives age-appropriate vaccinations and, if old enough, is spayed or neutered before finding its forever family.

Delivering this type of care involves many volunteers, an active and dedicated management, and generous donations. Our budget runs approximately $250,000 every year to keep doing what we do to help the dogs and cats of Quincy.

Our capacity at the shelter is limited to a maximum of 8 dogs and 15 to 25 cats, depending on ages and condition of the cats. Our dream is to eventually find a larger facility so that we can continue our mission on a larger scale and serve the continuous needs of the community and the animals.

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