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Best Volunteer Opportunities For Animal Lovers In Baltimore

Pet ownership is a big responsibility, and in a city like Baltimore, it's often impossible to bring a pet into your apartment home. But fear not animal lovers of Baltimore. By participating in a number of local animal nurturing opportunities, you can form a bond with that special furry friend, even if you can't take him or her home with you.

Dog Walking 
Baltimore Animal Rescue And Care Shelter
301 Stockholm St.
Baltimore, Md. 21230
(410) 396-4694
www.baltimoreanimalshelter.org

Most Baltimore City animal rescues and animal shelters are nonprofit organizations that operate entirely on the donations from sympathetic animal lovers and philanthropists. Consequently, these locations gladly accept all of the free help they can get considering their funding is extremely limited. One regular activity you can participate in to help these locations is the daily walking of their dogs. Dogs, more than any other animal in the shelter, require daily exercise, and keeping them cooped up in kennels or cages without daily exercise is not only unhealthy, it is inhumane. Walking dogs is a very enjoyable experience for any dog lover. Done daily, you have the opportunity to form a relationship with the dog you walk, a mutually rewarding experience. A perfect place to volunteer is BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter).

Related: Best Dog Walking Services In Baltimore

wpid-kitten-v290.jpg
(credit: Thinkstock)

Cat Cuddler/Kitty Concierge
Maryland SPCA
3300 Falls Road
Baltimore, Md. 21211
(410) 235-8826
www.mdspca.org

There are plenty of volunteer opportunities for dog lovers, but what if you're more of a cat person? The SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is looking for volunteers to foster its felines with a little TLC. What do you need to do? Just what comes naturally. Spend time with the cats, cuddling, petting and playing with them. Or tend to their needs by feeding them and changing their litter. These volunteer activities come with all of the joys of being surrounded by your favorite animal without the added responsibility of living with those same animals. Pick your favorite batch of cats today and form a relationship with that special kitty.

Cloned Sniffer Dogs Begin Training
(Credit: Getty Images)

Volunteer for a Rescue
Jasmine's House
23219 Stringtown Road
Clarksburg, Md. 20871
www.jasmineshouse.org

Baltimore can be a fun and friendly place, but it does have its dark side. One of the tragic aspects of Baltimore is the cold and uncaring attitude all too many people have toward the resident animals and the pit bull breed of dogs especially. Jasmine's House is a pit bull rescue that chose to concentrate on the breed because of its prevalence in animal shelters around the U.S., presumably due to the bad publicity this specific breed receives. The shelter saves abandoned and abused pit bulls, trains them and, most importantly, provides them with loving homes. If such abuses tug at your heartstrings, stand up and do your part.

Cute puppu feature
(photo credit: Thinkstock)

Photographing Animals at the Local Shelters
Baltimore Animal Rescue And Care Shelter
301 Stockholm St.
Baltimore, Md. 21230
(410) 396-4694
www.baltimoreanimalshelter.org

Animal Rescue Shelters treat each of their cases with the same importance. They need to be sorted, catalogued and, most importantly of all, photographed. Why is this so important? In addition to being a crucial part of the reference process, it allows potential adopters and fosters to look through the list of animals in need of care to pick out their future pet. Photographing the animals is an easy and fun experience that allows interaction with these cute, furry friends with none of the responsibility of cleaning up after them. BARCS is always in need of a talented shutterbug for just this opportunity.

Related: Best Off-Leash Dog Areas In Baltimore

Joel Furches is a freelance writer and researcher for The Examiner and Logos Software, and also manages his own catalog of writing on Hub Pages. Joel is on the board of directors for Ratio Christi. He has a bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Education.

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