We are thrilled you want to volunteer with us. Our volunteers are the backbone of our rescue. We can't wait to introduce you to our organization and the team that makes it all happen. Please take a few minutes to read through the website. Learn our foster and adoption processes (no quizzes...we promise), and read the stories of the dogs whose lives have been changed through Cairns & Cousins Terrier Rescue. When you're ready, please fill out our VOLUNTEER APPLICATION
Volunteers who can identify Cairns & Cousins in person or on websites, call shelters and surrendering owners or pull dogs from shelters and take to a safe haven (a boarding facility or vets office) are always needed. All approved expenses are reimbursed.
Foster homes is the most critical need in our rescue chain. We can only save as many Cairns & Cousins as we have foster homes. All approved expenses are reimbursed. Please see our Fostering page for more information.
Volunteers are always needed to check adoptive and foster home references. This step in our adoption process is also essential to the foster home approval as well. The majority of checks are made via telephone so access to a telephone is required. Training, instructions and support are provided by CCTR.
The “Home Safety Check” is the final step in CCTR’s five-part adoption process. Since CCTR is a National Rescue program, much of our adoption process is handled through e-mail and phone calls. The home check is truly the only chance that we have PRIOR to the placement of one of our Rescue dogs to ensure that they will be in a safe and loving home.
Volunteers are needed to conduct “in-person” and “virtual” home checks in your area. If you haven’t done a visit before, we have easy-to-follow instructions, and you don’t need experience to do a great job.
This role involves using CCTR’s volunteer database – organized by state and city – to find someone to complete the home safety check. If no local volunteer is available, a list of virtual home check volunteers is also provided. You’ll use template emails to communicate with both the applicant and the volunteer throughout the process. Training is, of course, provided as well.
Coordinate the move of foster dogs to their foster homes via volunteer drivers. You should love maps, figuring out puzzles such as the best route for multi-dog transports based on available volunteer resources, and be very detail oriented. You should also be comfortable with various communication modes, as we use a combination of phone calls, texts, and emails to find transport drivers. We have tools to help with the planning of our transports. If you love maps, dogs and puzzles - we could use you! We will get you the tools and training needed to join the team!
Coordinators tend to be contacted the week before a transport and may spend multiple hours contacting drivers and creating the transport plans. This work often happens during the week rather than on the weekend; it usually takes 3-5 days to fully staff transports (longer transports with more than 4 or 5 drivers may take longer).
Monitor the transport as it's happening.
This includes taking the update call when the dog is passed between volunteers and communicating transport progress to everyone involved in the transport by email.
Also alerts drivers when there is weather or traffic delays or rerouting when a meeting point can't be found. You should love talking to your fellow volunteers and staying cool when things don't go perfectly! Monitors primarily work on weekend days (usually between the hours of 8 AM and 6 PM Eastern), however, we do occasionally have a need for a monitor on weekdays.
If a transport is in your area, the transport coordinator will contact you to see if you can help transport a pup to their new foster home. You should have reliable transportation. We also offer reimbursement for mileage and any tolls incurred for those who would like to defray the costs of driving (or a tax receipt for those who would like to claim the deduction on their taxes). You would be contacted as needed (time commitment depends on the length of the leg that you drive).
Placement Specialist volunteers are the point of contact for potential adoptive homes to assist with finding the right dog. Contact is done by email and phone and requires computer-related and interpersonal communication skills. Training is provided although previous adoption with CCTR or Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network is suggested.
Artists, Graphic Designers and Crafters are all welcome to volunteer and can help our cause by donating art or helping with art that is needed for fundraising projects. Donated hand-crafted items can be used for our online auctions or in support of other fundraising efforts.
All types of Administrative skills are needed for rescue. Accounting, database/spreadsheet expertise, writing and data input are always needed in many capacities. And we are always in need of volunteers with Website experience (WordPress particularly) or Graphics experience as well.
Fundraising and Marketing are on-going efforts that are an integral part of rescue. We welcome anyone who can offer items to sell in auctions (to benefit CCTR). Also any volunteers with experience using any Social Media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube in particular) would be a great addition to our CCTR team.
Anyone with writing skills and terrier experience can help create marketing content on our Social Media sites or other sites online. We also need content creators for our Cairns & Cousins Terrier Rescue Blog and Newsletter.
