SICSA animal shelter

Volunteering at SICSA animal shelter

Stray animals are a particularly big problem in most of Europe. Basically everywhere you go, you will see stray animals. Well, not all of them are starving, because people feed them. An example of well fed stray animals are the strays along the coast of croatia, where they will roam along the many restaurants and tourists will feed them.

But the story with stray animals is very different in the United States of America. In Europe, I was so used to see a few stray animals every day, so I can say that I was very shocked when I moved here because the amount of stray animals I have seen in almost two years here, equals a big, fat zero!

If people here see a stray cat or dog, they either bring it to an animal shelter themselves, or they report it and the people from the animal shelter will get the animal themselves. And since there are no stray cats or dogs on the streets, because they are all in shelters, some of the shelters have no room to take new animals in, especially in the mating season, so the only solution for them is to put some of the animals to sleep.

But not all shelters are like that - my favourite shelter in Dayton, called SICSA, will never kill an animal (well, unless it is badly injured), and one of the reasons why I love that shelter, is that you can volunteer there!

Some of SICSA's friendly inhabitants.

I am not a big fan of dogs, because I was bitten by one when I was a kid, but I do love cats, so when I heard about the volunteering opportunities at SICSA, I decided to work with cats. But, after a few months, I decided to also sign up to volunteer with dogs, because I wanted to conquer my fear, and I am proud to say that it worked like a charm! I mean, I will still freak out if a big dog is running toward me, but I will not be scared anymore around medium sized dogs.

You can visit SICSA as a visitor too, but if you want to volunteer there, you have to go through a special training, and in this bog post, I will tell you more about it.

Where is SICSA situated?

A part of the SICSA building.

You will find sicsa on 2600 Wilmington Pike in Dayton, Ohio. From Dayton, it takes about fifteen minutes to drive there, and there are some cool spots around sicsa as well - domino’s pizza, a tattoo studio, a dance center and so on.

Sicsa has two parking lots - the front and the back parking lot. The front parking lot is meant only for visitors, because as a volunteer, you will be entering SICSA through the entrance in the back, so you will park your car on the back parking lot when volunteering.

The SICSA's entrance.

A little bit about the shelter

SICSA is an abbreviation, and it stands for: Society for the Improving Conditions of the Stray Animals. Other than rescuing stray animals from the street (and sometimes from other shelters, that kill their animals if they do not find them a home in a designated period of time), SICSA also organizes educational seminars and camps for kids and young adults.

I really like the way sicsa operates, and despite the fact that they are usually full, it is just amazing how well they are taking care of their animals. I have been to a few other shelters in the area, and I cannot emphasize enough how much better SICSA is.

Choosing the right program

Like I already mentioned, you can visit SICSA even without being a volunteer. But if you are a volunteer, you can do more than just look at all the animals. You can interact with dogs and cats, and help them socialize and therefore make their chances of finding a good home, much bigger.

SICSA offers several different volunteering programs, so you will definitely be able to find something that interests you. These are the programs that it offers:

You can choose between three dog programs and one cat program. The first dog program is called volunteer in dog kennels, and it basically involves walking the dogs on the SICSA’s beautiful backyard with its own dog playground, socializing the dogs and giving them a basic obedience training.

As a dog kennel volunteer, you will be socializing with the dogs in the kenels.

A second dog program, called the paw partners active, is targeted towards high energy dogs. It helps them get that energy out and therefore be more calm and relaxed in kennels, where potential new owners can see them. Which makes sense, because if I was looking for a dog to adopt, I would much rather adopt one that is calm and relaxed in the kennel, other than a barking and jumping beast.

The last dog program, paw partners social, is my favourite one. It involves bringing calm dogs to hospitals and hospices to make the sick people’s days better. I cannot even put it into words how awesome it feels when you see someone’s face light up when they are interacting with the animals.

The cat program is called volunteering in cat kennels, and it involves cleaning the cat kennels (which most volunteers want to avoid), petting the cats, playing with them and helping them to socialize and become less shy.

Every kennel has a description of the animal inside.

If you are a parent, you can also participate in a parent - kid volunteer program. For this, you will have to be with your kids at all times during volunteering, just to ensure that they are following the rules. And you can choose between all four programs. When volunteering with your kids, you are the one who opens the kennels for the kid, and, for example, holds the dog leash.

You can also foster some of the SICSA’s animals. For those of you, not familiar with the term ‘fostering’ - you basically bring the pet home for a few days to help him or her relax from sometimes stressful shelter life, and help them prepare for adoption better. Needless to say that you need to have your own home for that, the environment should not be too loud, and it is ideal if you do not have any other pets. Some of the volunteers at SICSA that have done fostering, have told me that they just had to adopt the animal they were fostering, because they formed a special bond.

Training

Before you can actually volunteer at SICSA, you have to attend a special training, focusing on the area you want to volunteer in. The training usually only takes one hour and a half, and, to be honest, I wish it would last longer.

For the major part of the first hour, the staff members will mostly talk about SICSA, its accomplishments and goals for the future, and they will only touch the training topics in the last thirty to forty minutes. It is true that they do cover everything you need to know, but I wish the training itself would last a little longer. After the training, you are ready to sign up for your first volunteering shift.

A typical volunteering shift at SICSA

You do not have to sign up in advance for volunteer shifts, although it is strongly suggested that you do, because the staff wants to ensure the number of volunteers is evenly distributed throughout the day. Then, once you get to SICSA, you have to sign in with your number, and you also have to choose the type of volunteer work you are planning on doing on that day.

And then you are all set to hang out with the animals. As a volunteer, you are also supposed to answer any questions that the visitors might have, and tell them if they are not handling the animals appropriately. If you are unsure on how to answer their questions, simply refer them to the front desk. At the end of the shift, all you need to do is sign out, and you are ready to go back home.

Also, I would like to mention that, as a volunteer, you are required to purchase a volunteer T-shirt, which costs ten dollars, and you have to wear it during your volunteer shifts. Without it, you are not allowed to do anything, even if you completed the training. But the shirt rule is there for a reason.

Visitors are not allowed to open cages and feed the animals by themselves- a volunteer or a staff member has to do it for them. And if a visitor sees a volunteer with no volunteer shirt on opening the cages, they will assume a volunteer is just a visitor, and they will definitely try to open the cages by themselves as well.

Find me if you can!

A few words for the end…

Whether you just want to look at cats and dogs that are on display at SICSA, or you want to help them by volunteering there, you are welcome there at any time. For me, volunteering at SICSA is like a dream job, even if I am not paid for it. I mean, petting cats? Yes, please! And there is no minimum time that you are required to stay there - they will be happy even if you literally go there to pet one cat. So what are you waiting for?

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