- Animal Care of Davis County needs volunteers to socialize cats.
- Volunteers help make the animals adoptable, benefiting both pets and volunteers themselves.
- Training is provided, and volunteers can be 16 or 17, with guardian permission, or older.
FRUIT HEIGHTS — If you are a fan of playing with dogs and cats — especially cats — the Animal Care of Davis County is looking for you.
They need volunteers to assist in socializing the dogs and cats — in other words, to play with them — because, as the staff says, a well-socialized animal is an adoptable pet.
Volunteering and socializing someone's future pet can have many benefits, not only for the animals, but for volunteers as well. You may think you're coming to play with the cats, but in many cases staff members say you end up feeling better about everything overall.
"It's a great way to get outside of yourself," said Jayne Mulford, the volunteer coordinator for Animal Care of Davis County. "You can spend time doing something that's not only for you. The volunteering and socializing pets — you know you're doing something good for someone else, and that's a good thing."
The Animal Care of Davis County has many volunteers. People do sign up for shifts, but after a few visits, some stop coming to volunteer in any capacity. Mulfiord said they are looking for 50 to 60 volunteers "that we can count on."
Cat socialization volunteers are local residents who love cats and are more than happy to sit and play with them for as long as they can. The same is true with dog walkers.
The center has many different types of animals — it receives any kind of animal found in Davis County — but cats and dogs are in larger supply. Animal Care of Davis County also holds cats and dogs that have been surrendered by owners or kittens that a mama cat's owner is not able to keep.
Dogs have a stereotypically playful nature and traditionally do not need as long an initial socialization process as cats, who are known to be a little more distant, according to Cattitude Adjustment, a nonprofit that assists with cat socialization.
Although dogs can always benefit from socialization efforts, cats, some of which are feral, need more socialization in order for others to deem them safe and enjoyable to have in their home.
It is not easy or quick to socialize a feral cat; anywhere from a few weeks to several months is needed to do so, according to American Pets Alive, a nonprofit in the American West that focuses on socializing feral cats. The same is true for nonferal cats. They do not need as long a time, but they do need time.
Socialization experts do not suggest that anyone who does not like cats or is lukewarm to them participate in this process. American Pets Alive agrees, due to the difficult nature of the volunteer work. In other words, gaining a cat's trust is not as easy as it is for, say, a dog, so someone who loves them may have more patience to wait for that trust.
You will not be sent to work with cats or dogs without being taught exactly what you need to do. Volunteer trainings happen consistently and are mandatory.
Anyone 16 years old or older is also able to work with the animals at Animal Care of Davis County, but 16- and 17-year-olds need a guardian's permission.
"We'll take people who need community service hours; you can choose what you would like to do. We even have a vibrant foster program if someone is interested in that," Mulford said. "We're always accepting volunteers ... including anyone wanting to help cats become more adoptable."
If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with Animal Care of Davis County, visit daviscountyutah.gov/animalcare/get-involved.
