Animal Care Taker in a Dog Shelter

This volunteer project takes place at a private foundation that helps stray and mistreated dogs. The foundation started when a very animal friendly Chilean lady rescued dogs in the South of Chile after the devastating earthquake in 2010. She brought the dogs to Casablanca in order to rehabilitate and care for them.

Today, the dog shelter cares for stray and mistreated dogs in the Casablanca region, as there are so many dogs that are in need. Unfortunately, in the countryside, dog keepers do not always act in a respectful manner towards animals. The current dog population at the center is about 120 dogs (number may vary). The rehabilitation center for dogs strives to improve the relationship between humans and animals through animal welfare. In the upbringing of the dogs, the physical and emotional protection of the animals is especially important at the center, as they want to make sure the animals are healthy and well-trained prior to adoption.

The foundation wants to be part of an effective cultural change that not only benefits animals, but also humans. They believe that, through the promotion of responsible pet ownership and the concept “One Health” (healthy animals, healthy people), this change will be possible. They also run a small social project that was specifically made for pet owners living in the socially disadvantaged regions around the center. People can bring in their pets and animals to be checked, vaccinated, and sterilized at the pet clinic. This clinic belongs to the shelter and offers services for a very low cost or even for free. In addition to the rehabilitation center in Casablanca, the foundation has an administrative office in Santiago de Chile.

The volunteer program will mostly take place in Casablanca, but volunteers might also be deployed to Santiago from time to time to help with adoption events or other administrative work.

For this program, volunteers do not need any special skills or previous experience caring for animals, but they should have a very patient personality and high sense of responsibility.

Furthermore, you should not be afraid of dogs, because they are the central focus of this volunteer project.

Among your responsibilities are:

• Caring for the dogs (bathing, grooming, etc.)
• Walking the dogs
• Feeding the dogs
• Cleaning of the compounds and facilities
• Playing with the dogs
• Training and rehabilitating the dogs
• Supporting adoption events
• Supporting dog projects

Note: The tasks may vary. They depend on factors such as number of volunteers, weather, season, current needs of the project, as well as self-motivation. Not every volunteer may be fully involved in all these tasks.

The small town of Casablanca with about 21,000 inhabitants is located in the wine valley of the same name, between Valparaíso and the capital Santiago de Chile. Santiago can be reached in about an hour, Viña del Mar and several Pacific beaches in 45 minutes to 1 hour and the World Heritage City of Valparaíso in about half an hour.

You live quietly in the country in Casablanca, but you have all options open to experience exciting places, nightlife, culture, hustle and bustle and holiday feeling on the beach in your free time.

Excellent wine is grown all around the Casablanca Valley and many of the beautiful wineries are open for tastings, wine tours and other activities such as trekking or horse riding in the vineyards.

The climate in Casablanca is warm and temperate, in summer the daytime temperatures are around 25 degrees, in winter they fluctuate around 12 degrees. Rain practically only falls in winter (May-August).