A telltale sign of reaching your early twenties for many college students is leaping toward pet adoption. Like many college students my age, I decided to adopt a dog. While I love my dog and do my best to give him a happy, adventurous life, I only see him a couple of times a month and during summer vacation because he lives at my parents’ house. Despite loving my puppy, pet adoption is not the best route for every college student, especially if your pet cannot live with your family where they have more people to love and look after them. An alternative to immediate pet adoption people should turn to is shelter field trips. By volunteering to take shelter animals on field trips you can enjoy the companionship while giving them one on one time and helping them find their forever home during their relaxing and fun adventure away from their stressful shelter environment. The following steps are how you can bring joy to shelter dogs near you and what you need to do before making the commitment to take care of these lonely dogs.
- Research:
First, you must research animal shelters near you and see if you feel like taking dogs on field trips is the best option for you, and if you qualify (for many shelters you must be 16+ years of age and not have children under five years of age around the dog). It is not enough to want to take these animals on a fun experience and help them get exposure, you need to read the requirements and ensure that you are prepared to look after any shelter dog in need of an adventure. The following are shelters in CA that participate in this field trip program (Doggy Day Out Participating Shelters):
- Elk Grove Animal Shelter Elk Grove, CA
- Front Street Animal Shelter Sacramento, CA
- Humane Society Silicon Valley Milpitas, CA
- Los Angeles Animal Services Los Angeles, CA
- Pets In Need Palo Alto, CA
- Santa Clara County Animal Shelter San Martin, CA
- The Mary S Roberts Pet Adoption Center Riverside, CA
- Tracy Animal Services Tracy, CA
- Ukiah Animal Shelter Ukiah, CA
- Plan an activity:
Next, you must plan a fun activity that will be a great source of relaxation, exposure, and exercise for this dog that otherwise spends most of its time in rowdy kennels. Some great activities could be taking your companion for the day on a field trip to the beach, pet-friendly restaurants, hiking trails, or walks. These activities are great outings because the dog can meet people during their adventures, and possibly find their forever home along the way.
- Fill out the paperwork/and pick up the dog:
After brainstorming activities, you must go to the website, fill out the questionnaire, and wait to be paired with a dog in need of an outing. Once you have filled out all the paperwork the shelter will contact you with any follow-up questions, and have you go into the shelter on the day of your field trip. There you will finish signing any documents, give a 20-40$ donation, and will receive instructions on how to care for the animal before meeting your companion for the day.
- Bring awareness to the program and the pets up for adoption:
During your field trip, you need to ensure that you keep the puppy on its leash and avoid socializing it with other animals for their safety and others. You also want to ensure that you do not remove the dog’s vest/collar because it has their adoption information, which will bring awareness to the program while emphasizing that they are up for adoption.
Doggy field trips are something to look into because they are a great way to destress while helping shelter animals find their forever home and giving them adventures that they otherwise would not have access to. They are an excellent alternative to adopting a pet you cannot provide your full undivided attention to because these field trips are at your convenience and allow you to spread love to many dogs while giving them the opportunity to find loving and suitable homes.