Volunteering Minor Children and Adults

Community Animal Network

"Volunteering"

For Ages 8 - Adult

Community Animal Network

Attend Our Next Volunteer Orientation! THE THIRD SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH Reserve space by calling 949.759.3646

Dear Adults and School Age Children;

Thank your for your interest in our community service mutual benefit program with Community Animal Network. Community Animal Network was founded by DiAnna Pfaff-Martin in 1996 as a vet medical rescue for abandoned and local shelter animals needing to find new homes. She began negotiating with veterinarians to perform life-saving surgeries for the shelter animals of Newport Beach for a reduced fee and then promoted them for adoption by standing in public places with photos of the animals on poster boards and giving out the Community Animal Report which she wrote and published with the help of Office Depot and Staples.

DiAnna now publishes the "Animal Report" an e-publication focusing on "pets needing new homes" and "animals in crisis" needing help. She continues promoting animals from the web site www.animalnetwork.org, and from her "pets-in-public" showings where rescue people and private parties both show their dogs and cats that need new homes.

COMMUNITY ANIMAL NETWORK NEEDS VOLUNTEERS!

• HELP NEEDED! - IN-HOME CARE FOR RESCUE CATS AND KITTENS!

Food and medical provided!

We have a tremendous need for families to welcome rescue animals into their home. The most frequent reasons why people give up there pets are death, divorce, the loss of the family home and moving to no-pet housing. There are not enough homes and the public favors to adopt the little ones causing the municipal shelters to have to euthanize 50% of all dogs and 75% of cats that enter the shelter system. Giving your time and sharing your home can save lives. Fostering animals in-home can satisfy “community service hours” by months served, not hours, as it becomes a family experience.

• PUBLIC PET- PROMOTIONS FASHION ISLAND

SPONSORED BY RUSSO’S PET EXPERIENCE

The volunteer hours are 12:00 – 4:30 pm. Volunteers help with closing chores from 4:00- 4:30. Volunteers schedule by Wednesday for weekend volunteering shifts. We encourage volunteers to schedule multiple weekends for the month in advance. A donation to “Community Animal Network” of $15.00 for a tee-shirt or $20.00 for a sweatshirt will be accepted. We also “loan” tee-shirts for the duration of the volunteer term with a check security deposit. Volunteers are to be prepared to answer questions made available in the study guide. Therefore, reading and role-play with friends or a family member is required. Knowing the safety rules provides a safe environment for all and studying the dogs and cats names on the web site along with knowing the rescue stories encourages animals being adopted. Volunteer staff needs to be seen as professional and interface politely with the public.

The volunteers are responsible to stand by cat cages as well as help the adoption manager with tasks. Dogs are handled at the adoption event by their pet-parent or caregiver, or are shown by appointment after being seen on the web site. People interested in dogs and special colors of cats should register with our pet-match service for a $25.00 service fee to get the animal that they really want. Small dogs are adopted so very quickly that this service needs to be recommended.

"Pets-In-Public" showings are sponsored by Russo’s Pet Experience.

"Click" the "Pink Poodle Picture" or the link below

for directions to the shopping

FASHION ISLAND

VOLUNTEER TESTIMONIAL

Whitney Fredrick April 22, 2009

One day I was walking by the pet store and saw an older girl from school who was working there. I asked her what she was doing there and she said she was volunteering. After I heard that, I wanted to work there too. So I asked my mom to sign me up.

When I first started working at Community Animal Network when I was 8 years old and in 2^nd grade. I have been working on and off for 3 years helping cats get adopted. I am now 11 years old and in 5^th grade.

I feel like I have always been the youngest person volunteering, but I wanted to spend every weekend there when I first started in August of 2006. By December, I had put in over 100 hours of volunteer time and I asked my parents if I could please adopt a cat. There was a mom cat and her baby who no one wanted to adopt for a long time. So I decided that I wanted them. After Christmas my mom and dad said I could pick one of them. So they came to my work and ended up adopting both of them. They are the cutest, most loving cats ever. They love to be loved and have their tummies rubbed by me. I feed them every night, clean their litter box and they sleep on my bed every night.

When I first started, I helped DiAnna by warming the vaccines by rubbing the bottles in my hands and then I’d hold the cats to help DiAnna give the vaccine injections to the cats and put the stickers on the health record.

I learned the names of all the cats each week, because they change all the time when new cats come in. I learned how much they cost to adopt and how to care for them and how to find a good person to adopt a cat. I know the best brands of cat food and cat litter to use. With an older helper I can take the cats from the foster parents and put them in adoption cages. I put food, water, a litter box and a bed in all the cages to prepare them for the cats coming in the morning. We set up the cages in the morning and at night we clean and disinfect them and put them away in the pet store.

I like having a key to the cages and being responsible for keeping the cages closed. I also love playing with the cats who seem so sad and lonely to be there.

I have told a lot of friends to come and volunteer. Two of my friends joined and are volunteering now.

I also brought friends to help wear the Life-Saver costume that we have to attract attention to our cat cages.

I have made a lot of friends and now I can help the new kids learn what to do. I love volunteering and hope I can help lots more animals get adopted into great homes.

Whitney Fredrick