"The animals have no voice but ours..."

COMMUNITY SERVICE RULES AND REGULATIONS

Please read the following regulations CAREFULLY and be sure you understand what’s required before you sign up to help at the animal shelter. We need to be certain our animals are well-cared for and because of that, we ask community service people to perform the job of an employee with the shelter. PLEASE read this ENTIRE PAGE.

1.  No one under the age of 16 can perform any kind of community service at the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter.

2.  CVAS has community service hours available in the MORNINGS, seven days a week, especially from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Community service people are expected to work AT LEAST three hours in the morning to provide as much help to the staff as possible. We can certainly give more hours (like an 8-hour work shift) if your time allows. If your schedule will not permit you to perform your service in the mornings and give AT LEAST three hours of work, please check elsewhere to complete your hours.

3.  Community service people will come to work appropriately dressed. No short shorts, no low-cut tank tops, no halter tops, no shirts that show your stomach, no tight clothing, no sandals, no long necklaces or earrings. Clothing must cover the body and shoes must cover the feet. Many community service people may come in contact with the public and MUST represent this shelter with respect and appropriate attire. Anyone who arrives not dressed to specifications will either be issued scrub pants and a top or will be asked to leave and perform their service elsewhere.

4.  Community service people will be required to clean animal kennels. It’s going to be messy. Community service people WILL leave the shelter after their allotted hours covered in animal mess. Including, quite possibly, feces. Shelter workers do the job 365 days a year – INCLUDING holidays – and do not need to hear community service people complaining of the smell. Community service people are here to perform a SERVICE for the shelter. Anyone who feels they cannot handle the odor or mess, please consider doing community service elsewhere.

5.  You will be expected to WORK. This shelter has to be clean and ready to open to the public by 11 a.m. The work is fast-paced and includes, but is not limited to, scrubbing kennels, picking up blankets covered in feces, doing laundry, washing animal bowls – again many times covered in feces, washing walls and corners – sometimes on your hands and knees, and scraping drains. There is not a lot of time to stand or wander around. There’s always work that needs done at the shelter and you will be required to do it. You’ll be tired when you leave here.

6.  Community service people at the animal shelter will be expected to think independently. That means, after your first day, you will have a feel for what goes on at the shelter and will then be expected to see what needs to be done and do it. In the past, we’ve had to explain several times how to turn on a washing machine. If you choose to do your community service here, please be ready to learn what it takes to work at the shelter and be a help to the employees here.

7.  Community service people should arrive to help at the agreed upon time. Being late or not showing up is unacceptable and causes problems with kennel staff who are expecting the help. If you say you’ll be here, be here. In cases of illness, a doctor’s note may be requested.

8.  Mistreatment of animals of ANY kind will absolutely NOT be tolerated.

9.  There are aspects of shelter work that must remain confidential – certain animals in our isolation area, adoption applications, quarantined animals and cruelty cases. Community service people are NOT at liberty to discuss any confidential matters outside the shelter.

10.  Please have some knowledge of animals. Cats will play bite and claw. You may get scratched. Puppies will play bite and dogs may slide their paws across your skin. Please don’t overreact to minor scratches and injuries. It happens all the time at the shelter. However, if you are seriously bitten or scratched to the point where it’s deep and draws a lot of blood, tell a shelter employee immediately. 

11.  We ask that community service people come to work individually. Two friends or significant others are not allowed to perform community service together at the same time.

If you do not feel comfortable with any of these regulations, please DO NOT choose to perform your community service with CVAS. There are many non-profit organizations in the area that require far less physical labor and regulations for their community service people. Please check into those organizations. Community service people at the animal shelter will be expected to do far more than just play with dogs and cats. They will be expected to work exactly like a shelter employee.

If you do decide to perform community service with CVAS and cannot abide by the above regulations, you will be asked to leave and complete your hours elsewhere. Community service people will be required to clock in and out, as a record of the service provided. CVAS reserves the right to clock out any community service person who is not working up to specifications.

To perform community service with CVAS, please fill out our Community Service Release Form and someone will contact you.

CVAS, Inc.
2325 Country Road Chambersburg, PA 17202
(P) 717- 263-5791 · (F) 717- 263-2042  cvasadmin@innernet.net