Where to Volunteer at Animal Shelters in Dallas

Dallas might not be getting as cold as Chicago or New York, but it's still getting chillier. Unfortunately, that means that plenty of stray animals in the streets will be much colder and looking for a loving home to warm their bodies and hearts.

Winter is when animal shelters need all the help they can get. If the shelters are full and the workers have their hands full walking dogs and brushing cats, there's not much they can do to bring in more animals. This is where volunteers come in.

As a volunteer, your extra help allows the employees to focus on growing their programs and giving better, more specific care to more animals. It's like having someone do your laundry so you can focus on the monthly budget or your upcoming interview. Volunteers take on menial tasks, such as walking dogs, feeding the animals and cleaning pens so that more important work can be done.

How great is it, though, that "menial tasks" means "playing with puppies and cats, giving them some much-needed love and care?" There aren't any downsides to volunteering with animals, especially when you can see the benefits immediately.

In a previous post about animal shelters in Denver, we saw how the benefits of volunteering with animals not only helps the animals, but it helps you and the community around you.

Volunteering at animal shelters helps the shelters advertise their places in the community. If your friends and family see you having fun and offering a hand at a shelter, they are much more likely to trust that organization, since you essentially vouched for its legitimacy.

Animals in shelters always need to be exercised well. For dogs, this means they need to be walked and played with, otherwise they can develop a type of depression called kennel stress. Cats don’t always need a lot of physical exercise, but they do need to be stimulated and have a chance to explore and climb. Having a bit of one-on-one time with people makes a huge difference to shelter animals’ emotional and physical well-being.

If you live in Dallas and you're itching to help shelter save animals’ lives, check out these great locations in Dallas where you can lend a helping hand this winter.

Animal Shelters in Dallas

Humane Society of Dallas (a.k.a. Dog n’ Kitty City)

2719 Manor Way

SPCA of Texas’ Jan Rees-Jones Animal Care Center

2400 Lone Star Drive

Dallas Animal Services

1818 N. Westmoreland Road

SPCA of Texas’ Mary Spencer Spay/Neuter &Wellness Clinic at Village Fair

4830 Village Fair Drive

Prairie Paws Adoption Center

2222 W. Warrior Trail, Grand Prairie, Texas

Texas Pawprints

5500 Greenville Ave.

East Lake Pet Orphanage

10101 E Northwest Highway

 DFW Humane Society

4140 Valley View Lane, Irving, Texas

The City of Coppell Animal Services

821 Coppell Road, Coppell, Texas

The Colony Animal Services

4720 E Lake Highlands Drive, The Colony, Texas

Operation Kindness

3201 Earhart Drive, Carrollton, Texas

Richardson Animal Shelter

1330 Columbia Drive, Richardson, Texas

Little Elm Animal Shelter

1605 Mark Tree Lane, Little Elm, Texas

SPCA of Texas

8411 Stacy Road, McKinney, Texas

Texas CARES

1484 Preston Road

You don't have to spend all day every day at an animal shelter to make a difference. Every shelter has different needs, but all of them do need help.  If there's an animal shelter near you in Dallas, give them a call or a visit and see how you can help.

Have fun!

Feature photo courtesy Pexels/Svetozar Milashevich