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Volunteering With Animal Shelters In The Canary Islands

According to a guest post on our website on Finding Work On Tenerife And Lanzarote, there is a strong culture of hunting with dogs in the Canary Islands. When dogs outlive their usefulness, they’re often dumped in the hills. Additionally, many locals don’t neuter their pets, opting to dump offspring rather than pay veterinarian fees.

All of this means there are a lot of abandoned cats and dogs and, as a result, animal sanctuaries to try to care for them. Many have been set up by non-Canarios and survive on a shoestring budget so volunteers are always welcome.

Tenerife Horse Rescue is run solely by volunteers with the aim to offer homes to all equines who need a second chance. Dogs and cats, birds, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, pigs, tortoises, hamsters and other animals too complete the array of rescued animals living here.

Many of their volunteers are drawn from those living on the island already but they also offer a volunteer programme via Workaway for those of you around the world who would also like to be involved.

On site accommodation and meals are provided in exchange for 25 hours a week of work, for which they have specific roles in mind, from directly caring for the animals to building work, website management and driving. Minimum stay is one month and the application form on their website may appeal to non members of Workaway.

For those that are already Workaway members of the website, or would consider joining, we found three more listings that may also be of interest.

Help us look after our rescue animals on the beautiful island of Lanzarote

“We operate a no profit association based in Lanzarote. Our farm animals are mostly rescued and given a second chance to be loved and cared for. We look after them and include them in our pet therapy programs and educational programs in general. We receive visitors and organize events related to nature and animals, although now with the Covid situation our programs have been reduced a lot.”

German cat and dog rescue centre in Tenerife looking for animal lovers

“We are a German dog and cat rescue station in the south of Tenerife. Our society is based in Germany but the rescue station is on the Canary Islands. It was founded in 1992. We search for Workaways/Volunteers 25 years or older (to stay 4 weeks or more) loving cats and dogs and want to give a lot of love to them. This year (2022) we are searching especially Workaways/Volunteers for Social Media / Filming / Cutting!”

Hands-on help in a non profit animal charity based on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria

“This is a non profit animal charity based on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria. I run my animal charity and rescue on my own, and have many different resident rescue animals here. The Finca is a work in progress, and relies on donations, and volunteers to build and maintain different aspects. Over the years, many things have been built, but there is still so much more to do.”

There are also animal refuges on the islands that will appeal more to local residents with their own place to stay, though we’re sure they wouldn’t turn away any help offered by people moving to the Canaries, are able to arrange their own place to stay locally, or are on holiday.

These include the longstanding K9 Tenerife that, despite the name, also helps cats and has helped birds, reptiles, rabbits, donkeys and even two lions and a leopard. Live PAWS, Manos Amigas de los Animales de Tenerife, and Animal Protection Association of the Northwest of Tenerife are three more to consider.

Volunteering with animal shelters is a frequent subject in our newsletter. Sign up or read the latest issue here.