Volunteer

Volunteering in the United States
There are a variety of ways you can volunteer with Scooby North America without leaving the country!  Scooby North America is always in need of foster families, fundraising help, and help with transporting dogs.  Read on for more details!

Fostering
We need foster families in a large geographical area, mostly around the northeast and mid-Atlantic states.  Our dogs most often fly into New York or Boston, and very occasionally into Washington D.C. or Chicago so we like to foster them in those surrounding areas if possible.  Fostering is a critical role to play in our rescue/rehoming mission so we do have a few rules:
  • We require yards with a 6-foot fence.  Galgos and especially podencos are happy to jump lower fences and we can't risk losing our fosters after so many people went to the trouble and expense of rescuing, rehabilitating and transporting them.
  • We prefer homes that have greyhound experience because galgos have similar attitudes and care requirements.  However, any family with lots of general dog experience and believe only in positive-reinforcement training methods can foster. 
  • We would absolutely love it if the foster family could make time to bring the foster dog to our events whenever possible. After all, the best marketing is to let potential customers see, touch and fall in love!
We are happy to set up foster-with-intent-to-adopt situations with good families.  If you're interested in fostering for Scooby North America, please submit a foster application.

Transporting Dogs
The hands-down biggest challenge Scooby North America faces is transporting dogs from Spain to the United States.  Large air cargo haulers only work for giant loads and are super expensive so we transport one to four dogs at a time on commercial flights.  Our dogs fly as "pet-in-hold" status and require a human to be on the same flight as their escort.  We have all the logistics covered and since we do it so often we have it down pat.  But it's hard to find people who can fly to Spain and back, or catch travelers returning home to the U.S. through Madrid.  Flight patrons need to pay for their own flight tickets or use their own frequent flyer miles in most cases. But it's a very rewarding job to escort our rescued dogs on their journey to their new forever homes!  We also often need to set up a ground transportation relay race to get the dogs from the airport to their adoptive or foster homes.  Contact Diane@scoobynorthamerica.org if you can be a flight patron or can drive dogs from the airport to some other destination.
Volunteering at the Scooby Shelter in Spain
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Interested in making a difference at Scooby?

Every year a number of volunteers both practical and veterinarian, visit Scooby in Medina del Campo, Spain.  During their stay, whether it is short or long term, they help in the preparation of food, feeding the dogs, cleaning the paddocks, providing the dogs with medical care and socialization (aka petting and playing!), do handyman jobs and the many other jobs that come with working at a shelter.  Volunteering at Scooby is an exceptional experience – for both you, and the animals that can’t wait to meet you!

We are always in need of skilled maintenance workers.  If you are skilled in maintenance, please submit a volunteer application form well in advance of your visit.  We may be able to arrange for you to be involved in a special project.

Here are just a few of the benefits of volunteering at Scooby:
  1. Get warm fuzzies. You’ll never find a more thankful and accepting comrade than an animal you’ve comforted.  Even the dirtiest job, cleaning poo out of the paddocks, is made fun by all of the dogs who first want to meet you and then want you to play with them.  It's par for the course if you work for ten minutes, play for ten minutes, work for ten minutes, play for twenty....  the work gets done by the end of the day and you will have your fill of dog love!
  2. Keep good company. You’ll make lots of new friends—and not just the four-legged kind. Working side by side with people from all over the world who share similar interests can forge lifelong friendships.
  3. Meet the new you. You’ll discover skills you never knew you had, and you may be surprised at what you’re capable of accomplishing.
  4. Enjoy a wagging tail, a purr, and a smile.  Scooby has such a wide variety of species in residence that there is something for everyone.  Love farm animals and horses?  There are many who need love and attention.  Prefer cats to dogs?  Scooby has two large and fabulous catteries full of sweet little purr-balls.  Birds?  Yep, we have those too!
  5. Be part of the solution. You’ll be working to make Scooby more comfortable for all its animals. You’ll make the jobs of everyone working for Scooby a little easier by lending a hand and spreading the message of responsible pet ownership and animal protection.

Anyone 18 and over may volunteer. For safety reasons, children five and under cannot volunteer (but certainly may visit). Anyone between the ages of six and seventeen may volunteer at the discretion of the staff if accompanied by parent or guardian.

Volunteering at Scooby is a great way to spend your time while making a difference in a life, whether it’s a dog, cat, donkey, or even a farm animal!  There are so many ways you can help out and it is all appreciated.  If you are interested in volunteering at Scooby, please submit a volunteer application form and we will reach out to you with more information and logistics.