Nevins Farm Volunteer Program

Per our liability insurance, you must be 16 or older to volunteer in either our Traditional Volunteer Program or Community Service Program. Those 16 and 17 will be required to obtain and turn in a MA Youth Work Permit prior to volunteering. Under 16? Please check out our Humane Education webpage for information on staff-supervised family and youth programs.

At Nevins, we require a minimum monthly commitment of 4 hours for the Traditional Volunteer Program. In most volunteer areas that’s easily done in 1 shift. You must be able to commit to at least six months of volunteering. Some volunteers have been with us upwards of 20 years! Not able to commit to six months? Our Community Service Program could be an option. Click here to learn more!

All volunteers must go through our full onboarding process. We cannot have people drop in to volunteer. If you have been assigned hours for school or court, you can learn more about our Community Service Program here.

While socialization is important, it is part of a larger volunteer role. You must be willing to do everything involved in volunteering, not just the “fun” stuff! Emptying litterboxes, mucking stalls, picking up after a dog you walked in the rain or snow, scrubbing dirty food bowls, and washing loads (and loads) of soiled bedding are all part of volunteer life here at Nevins.

We have many volunteer areas, including: barn, cat, dog, small animal, Tack Box, answering phones, assisting with retail stocking, and limited roles in our surgery suite. Pick one, and we’ll get you started! (You can add on another area later, if you’d like.) Dogs are our most requested area, which means you may experience an extended wait time to complete the onboarding process. Surgical volunteer roles are limited to those 18+, and are not a training program. You will be doing support tasks such as sterilizing instruments. Observation of surgeries is not allowed, as it can affect the work of the vets and techs.

The short answer is caring for and cleaning up after our animals. Brief descriptions of core volunteer tasks in each animal care area are below:

Barn – Mucking stalls, cleaning our coop and pig barn, feeding poultry and waterfowl, picking paddocks, putting out hay for horses, general barn cleaning and maintenance, and providing socialization and enrichment for staff-approved animals. This is a very physical volunteer role, and you will be outside year-round in all weather except lightning. Our barn and outbuildings have neither heat nor AC. You should be able to lift at least 40 pounds and be able to navigate uneven terrain.

Cat – Replacing soiled litter and bedding, feeding and watering, washing floors, assisting with laundry and dishes, and providing socialization and enrichment to cats. Later on in your volunteering career, you may also be able to assist with introducing cats to potential adopters.

Dog – Cleaning kennels, feeding and watering, cutting up hot dogs and cheese for treats, providing enrichment such as food puzzles, assisting with laundry and dishes, and walking dogs. Notice how walking dogs was listed last? Through intake and behavior evaluations, our dogs are leveled 1-4, or Staff Only. When you begin as a volunteer, you start at level 1. Through time and training, you can advance through the levels. We have fewer dogs at Level 1 and Level 2. That means the majority of your volunteer time is often not spent walking dogs. It’s worth it to put your time in and stick with us, because we really need volunteers to stay on and reach Level 3 and Level 4! Dog volunteers must be able to be outside year-round in all weather, except lightning.

Small Animal – Changing soiled bedding, feeding and watering, socializing our tiniest guests, and assisting with dishes and laundry. If you like variety, this is the place for you! Individuals with severe nut allergies should take care in this area, as food for exotic birds can contain nuts. If a nut allergy is of concern, it is possible to volunteer in this area and not care for the birds.

The Tack Box is an equine resale shop that raises funds for our Equine and Farm Animal Programs. It is open weekends from 12-4. If you can spare at least one weekend day a month, and enjoy interacting with customers, please consider volunteering here!

We’re sorry, but we are not able to offer this.

Many animals in need of foster homes are adults who are pregnant, sick, under socialized, or not thriving in a shelter environment. Some may be hospice cases. If you apply to be a foster volunteer, you must be willing to take on more than young, healthy animals. Most animals placed in foster are cats, with a lesser need for small animals, like rabbits or guinea pigs. Dogs are only occasionally placed in foster homes. Interested in fostering? We need you! Apply here.

While many of our volunteers are accomplished equestrians, only staff are able to ride our horses.

Yes! Our animals need care 7 days a week, including holidays.

Please email nevinsvolunteer@mspca.org to discuss if volunteering at Nevins will be an appropriate match for their skills and schedule. If your student or client has never been to Nevins before, a self-guided visit during our public open hours is recommended as the first step.

Volunteers are required to attend one or more mentor sessions before being cleared to volunteer on their own. Mentor sessions are scheduled once you have attended your orientation. They are hands-on training sessions where you will learn the skills necessary for your volunteer role here at Nevins. In addition to walking you through what your volunteer shift will be like, it’s a good chance to ensure that the volunteer role you have signed up for is a good match.

As an MSPCA volunteer, you’ll need to learn the way we do things. This might be different from the way you interact with animals in a home environment. While animals are at our shelter, we have protocols that must be followed for the safety of staff, volunteers, and the animals themselves. We use rewards-based clicker training for our dogs, which new volunteers have often never encountered before.

Open MSPCA positions for all locations can be found on our website, under careers. We cannot take in-person or email applications.