Volunteer Jobs & Shifts

The following are brief descriptions of the animal-care jobs that are available for volunteers. To work with animals, you must be at least 18 years of age and you must attend volunteer training. When you fill out our application form, please indicate your top three choices from the list below:

Animal care jobs:

• Cat care — clean and feed cats. Follow procedures for infection control. Thoroughness and attention to detail are required.


• Dog Care — walk dogs and perform basic obedience training. Strenuous job, walking in all kinds of weather with lively dogs. Must be physically able to move dogs in and out of kennels.


• Farm — assist the farm staff in cleaning and feeding. Some experience with horses or large animals is recommended.


• Small Animal Care — clean, feed, and socialize rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, gerbils, etc. in the small-animal room.


• Pet-Assisted Therapy — visit sites such as nursing homes or other such institutions. Bring certified dogs, rabbits or other small animals.


• Transport — drive animals between Lollypop Farm and PetSmart Henrietta, and also drive animals to appearances on television news shows ("Pet of the week").


• Kennels — clean the dog kennels.


• Adoptions — help send animals to their permanent homes. Very rewarding, must have good people skills. Training beginning 1/21/12 for 4 weeks. Please contact us for details.

Program support jobs:

• Information Technology (IT) — As of October 2010, we are looking for a tech-savvy volunteer to help with computer-related tasks. Some projects need to be done on-site, some can be done mostly from home. For more information, please contact our IT Manager, Alex Chernavsky, at alexc@lollypop.org or 585.223.1330 x132.


• Gift Shop — operate the gift shop, help adopters with purchasing basic needs for the new family member. Some prior experience with retail is helpful but not necessary.


• Meet & Greet — staff the main reception desk, answer phones, help people who walk up with questions. This job requires considerable knowledge of shelter operations, and also calls for patience, diplomacy, and good communication skills. Fast-paced and exciting job.


• Clerical — help the front desk and office staff with adoption paperwork and membership records.


• Data Entry — type information into computer databases. You should be comfortable working with computers to do this job.