Volunteer with animals in India

How to help

Donate stock Donate Volunteer with animals in India Sponsor an animal Adopt Memorialize a pet Create a legacy Shop Donate Cryptocurrency

Incredible animals are waiting for you in our hospital and sanctuary!

Volunteers play a special role in the welfare of our animals, both those living here permanently and those who are temporarily in our hospital in Udaipur, Rajasthan. They comfort injured animals, assist with physio and hydrotherapy, feed orphaned calves, brush handicapped donkeys and much more. You can come and volunteer for a few hours, a few days or a few months!

We are open every day! Walk-ins welcome!

Volunteers and visitors are welcome every day between 10AM and 12PM and 2.30PM and 3.3PM. Tours are scheduled at 10.30AM, 12PM, 2.30PM and 3.30PM.

While previous confirmation is not needed, please know that if you haven’t contacted us before (via email or with the form below) and you’re coming outside the scheduled tours hours, there might be a short waiting time once you reach the shelter.

For those planning ahead, we encourage contacting us through the form below.

Volunteering with animals in India is easy!

All you need to do is fill the form below and we'll get back to you at the earliest!

Volunteer booking form

Volunteer orientation

On your first day, we will take you on a 40 minute tour explaining the work that we do for street animals in India, introduce you to the animals in the different areas and show you how we care for them.

After the tour, our volunteer coordinator will give you a safety and activities orientation and make your personal schedule. There will always be a volunteer coordinator on hand to guide and work with you.

Directions and information to plan your visit

Love heals

You will be encouraged to spend lots of time cuddling and socializing with our sanctuary dogs, particularly those with disabilities who thrive on special attention and one-on-one time with volunteers.

Dogs recovering from accidents with spinal trauma need physical therapy and lots of love to keep their spirits up while they heal.

Other help will include bottle feeding milk to orphaned calves, brushing donkeys, assisting in physical therapy, hydrotherapy, bathing the buffaloes, bathing and brushing dogs, among many other things!

Snapshots of volunteers at Animal Aid

Safety

We encourage you to have your rabies vaccinations complete at least one month before coming to volunteer, especially if you are going to be volunteering for several weeks or longer. Volunteers who are fully vaccinated and are staying at least two weeks will be able to help with dogs who have recently been rescued and are receiving treatment alongside other volunteering activities.

If you are not vaccinated, you can still volunteer in our sanctuary, where we have over 300 animals of all species, who are craving your love and attention.

In general, we highly recommend to be fully vaccinated if you are traveling through India and expect to interact with street animals – not only if you plan to volunteer!

Children aged between 8 and 14 are welcome to visit the shelter, but they won’t be able to volunteer. There will be limited access to the areas but they are welcome to stay up to half a day with our friendly sheep, goats and calves with parental supervision. Teenagers aged 14-18 are welcome to volunteer with a parent or guardian accompanying them at all times.

Our volunteer coordinator will create a schedule suited to the experience level of each volunteer to ensure the safety of the volunteer and the animals.

In kind donations

Many future volunteers ask what they can bring as a donation to Animal Aid.

We prefer monetary donations as they allow us to plan and manage our resources, as well as make bulk purchases and get more value from each donation (you can set up your monthly donation here). However, there are specific items that are not easily available in India. You can email us at [email protected] for the most up-to-date information.