Street Dog Rescuer

1) Day to day operation of the rescue centre
This is the main activity that all volunteers participate in.

- Socialize and walk the dogs. So that our dogs can be adopted, it is essential to teach them to trust people; and to train dogs to walk on a leash

- Feeding the dogs

- Administration of the medical treatments

- Assist with rehabilitation therapies for recovering animals

- Cleaning (dog grooming, cleaning the shelter facilities and property grounds, cleaning the dog kennels, and cleaning your volunteer accommodation and communal areas)

- Hosting tours of the shelter and talking with visitors

2) Construction of the remaining unfinished pieces of our infrastructure

- A green area of 1200 square meters divided into three sectors.

 - A play area with a pre-fabricated pool (for the animals to play, and for us to work on rehabilitating the injured or post-operative animals)

- Second room for dogs (kennel)

- Room for quarantine

- Recovery room

- Bathing room for dogs

3) Working with the local population to raise awareness in dog welfare

- Installing drinking troughs, food dispensers and sheds in different parts of the cities and rural areas of the Sacred Valley, in partnership with the local population.

- Working with schools: volunteers will give talks in schools and teach children about being responsible with pets (for volunteers with a very good level of Spanish)

4) Vet and vet nurse volunteers

You will be contributing to helping control the overpopulation of strays and lessening the pain of animals. You will need to spay and neuter animals; as well as examine and treat pets.

We are a new rescue centre, so we don't have right now a highly-structured typical day.

You will be doing for sure the “Day to day operation of the rescue centre” as this is the core of our activities and required for all volunteers.

Depending on our current projects and resources at the time of your visit, you could also be doing “Construction of the remaining unfinished pieces of our infrastructure” and “Working with the local population to raise awareness in dog welfare”.

Your will be working 6 hours a day with some break, with 2 days off per week. A typical shift is from 10am to 4pm (our public hours), but you could have a slightly different 6 hours shift, depending on the needs of the centre at the time. You will be working 5 days a week, and which days of the week you will get your two days off (Monday, Sunday, Wednesday...) will also depend on the needs of the centre at the time. But this is not the army, we can discuss everything so everybody (the dogs and the volunteers) are happy.

So you will need to be a little independent, take initiatives, and go with the flow. You will be contributing to the development of a new rescue centre, so it can be challenging and exciting at the same time!

We don’t provide or pay for any of these activities, but they are readily accessible from our rescue centre as day trips, and easy to organize by yourself. Transportation within the Sacred Valley is straightforward, frequent and cheap with Collectivos (mini-vans). Our centre is right by a bus stop.

1) Volunteers can explore the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which was an important site for the Inca Empire, and is the home of some incredible Inca (and pre-Inca) archeological sites. The most famous being Machu Picchu.

This beautiful and peaceful valley is home to a number of isolated Quechua villages and colonial towns. Star attractions in the Sacred Valley include Machu Picchu, the Pisac Market and the lofty Inca citadels of Pisac and Ollantaytambo; however, the valley is filled with other Inca (and pre-Incas) sites that are well worth visiting.

So this is a great opportunity to learn about the Inca civilization. Urubamba is in roughly the middle of the Sacred Valley.

2) Outdoor activities: hiking, biking

3) Socializing with the local population: the people of Urubamba are very friendly, and it wouldn’t be hard to socialize with them.

4) Learn Spanish or Quechua

5) Day trip to world-renowned Cusco (the capital of the Inca Empire), easy, frequent, and cheap transportation between Urubamba and Cusco, about 1hr30 mins one-way.