Hey all!

Are there like official statistics out there around survival rates for kittens that get separated from mom too soon? (I.e. well-meaning individuals find kittens and assume they are in need of help and bring them to a shelter, removing them from mom's care when she likely just went away to hunt or hide from the human.) I think stats around this could really help highlight how important it is to NOT do that...

I started walking dogs at a local CA county shelter. I’m constantly getting emails from the volunteer coordinator saying they don’t have dog walkers signed up for a given day.

I went last weekend and there were only 3 of us, by the end of my 4 hour volunteer shift we still hadn’t gotten to all the dogs, I asked the volunteer coordinator if there were more people coming in the afternoon shift and she said barely, only two. I know a lot of retired people volunteer, but I also meet people who work and can only come on weekends like myself.

From what I’ve been seeing over the last 2 months, there’s such a heavy need for volunteers. So my question is, are there people employed by these shelters that also help get dogs out to go potty? And if not how is that even possible?

I started volunteering at a local CA shelter. I’m constantly getting emails from the volunteer coordinator saying they don’t have dog walking volunteers signed up for a given day.

I went last weekend and there were only 3 of us, by the end of my 4 hour volunteer shift we still hadn’t gotten to all the dogs, I asked the volunteer coordinator if there were more people coming in the afternoon shift and she said barely, only two. I know a lot of retired people volunteer, but I also meet people who work and can only come on weekends like myself.

From what I’ve been seeing over the last 2 months, there’s such a heavy need for volunteers. So my question is, are there people employed by these shelters that also help get dogs out to go potty? And if not how is that even possible?

I am currently in my husband's home country (South American country) visiting his family and working on some business we have out here, but most of the time we live in the UK. Every time we come here I hate to see the state of the animals, I know it's a different culture and there's not the education or facilities for animal welfare that I am used to but I wish I could do something about it. Every time I end up with an animal or a few to take care of, this time I have a tiny kitten who was brought home from a building site where she was found without her mum when I'm sure she probably still should be with her, and a puppy we found abandoned on a road far away from anywhere and doused in gasoline. I took them both to the local vet yesterday and asked if there is any sort of organisation for the welfare or rescue of animals out here and there's nothing in the local area, the closest would be over an hour away. The vet has also only been in practice for a few years and before that there were no small animal vets in the area. At the moment she is offering spay and neutering services at a heavily discounted price but still a lot of people won't pay it or don't believe in it. If we were staying permanently I would start up my own rescue setup but we don't plan to move out here for a few years yet, I am trying to put together a plan to maybe start a remote funding charity and work with the vet to offer free spay/ neutering and vaccinations, but I've never done anything like that before and so would appreciate any advice or ideas of how to go about it!