Animal Care Services
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Animal Care  /  How You Can Help  /  Volunteer - Get Involved

Donations

Can’t fit another volunteer assignment into your schedule? We are always accepting donations for our shelter pets. Although we are appreciative of dog and cat food donations, we ask that donors go directly to the San Antonio Food Bank to drop off food donations for their Daisy Cares program. 

Foster Program

The ACS Foster Program needs you! ACS needs your heart and your home to care for one of our shelter’s orphaned animals. Your generosity will provide young and old, injured and sick, abused and under socialized animals a chance to grow or heal before finding forever homes. Every Foster makes a difference in the lives of our shelter pets!

Being a Foster helps us to create space in the shelter to accommodate other homeless animals. Animals in the Foster Program provide companionship and purpose- your act of kindness is repaid in rewards that are beyond words. Did you find some kittens and are unsure what to do with them? Watch this video here for more info!

Did you know that as an ACS Foster you can earn up to four hours of volunteer service for each day you care for a foster pet! Please email acsvolunteer@sanantonio.gov for more info about this opportunity! 

Animals needing a temporary home and a Foster include:

  • Animals that require more socialization than available at the shelter
  • Neglected or abused animals that need tender loving care
  • Any healthy, non aggressive animal that is brought into Animal Care Services

COVID19 UPDATE FOR OUR VOLUNTEERS!

In light of our community's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Animal Care Services is offering limited volunteer opportunities on site until further notice. We will also not be able to accept any new volunteer applications at the moment. This decision has been made out of an overabundance of caution to protect our valued volunteers and staff while supporting the City's Stay Home, Work Safe order.  Please check back for more information in the coming weeks! If you want to help the pets at ACS, please check out our Foster Program here and sign up with this application. 

There are remote volunteer projects available and weekly on-site volunteer events available for new volunteers at this time! Please email acsvolunteer@sanantonio.gov for more info. 

As always, thank you for your interest in helping the pets of Animal Care Services!

 

Volunteer - Get Involved!

We are always in need of animal lovers who can volunteer their time to bathe, groom, walk and socialize with our furry companions. However, we also need volunteers to help in other ways as well; including groundwork, administrative work, off-site events, photography, laundry, and much, much more. Volunteers enable us to give our animals the care and attention they need and deserve. We could not do it without their help!

Want to find out more about our volunteer program, be sure to check out our current and past Volunteer Newsletters!

All onsite volunteers must complete a background check. The following offenses will exclude you from our volunteer program:
  • Any offense relating to theft, burglary, fraud, arson, or breaking and entering
  • Any drug-related offense
  • Any violent offense, including, but not limited to:
    • Animal Cruelty
    • Assault and Battery
    • Household Assault
    • Injury to a Child
    • Domestic Violence
 

Please view our ACS Volunteer handbook here. This is a detailed guide of our volunteer policies, procedures, and expectations.
 

acsvolunteer@sanantonio.gov along with a completed Group Volunteer Application. A minimum of two weeks advance notice required to schedule a group. Please note that our weekend dates book up 1-2 months in advance. We can accommodate most groups with 12 volunteers or fewer, although we may have special projects available for larger groups onsite or offsite from time to time. Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator for more information. Be advised that, because of safety issues with our pets and your group, there may be little to no interaction with animals for large scale group projects.
  • Remote Group Projects: We also have a robust remote group volunteer program! Please view the Remote Volunteer Group Project guide here for additional instruction. 

    • Shelter Paws Program

    Our Shelter Paws program lets you take a dog for the day - or even a few hours - in the hopes of making that dog more friendly and adoptable, and giving the dog a break from the shelter! Take a walk in the park, go for a hike or a run, watch a movie at home, or get a puppuccino! To participate, you must:
    • Be 18 years old
    • Have a photo ID
    • Have a reliable vehicle
    • Be dog friendly!
    To sign up, click this link: Sign up here!If you have questions, please email: acsshelterpaws@sanantonio.gov.