Our volunteers are the heartbeat of this community. Volunteering at AAWL is about more than the animals, it's about the people who show up alongside you. Build friendships, find your people and become part of a community that shows up for each other, every single day.

Getting Started 

✓ Sign Up: Choose your location and complete your volunteer application

Welcome To Online Foster Orientation!

We are so excited to have you join our foster team and help us save thousands of homeless animals each year. Follow these steps to get started!

1. Download and read our foster manuals. For fostering dogs CLICK HERE. For fostering cats CLICK HERE.

2. Watch the foster orientation presentation below.

Welcome! AAWL is proud to host Dogs Playing for Life style playgroups at our facility that allow us to provide enrichment for the dogs physically, emotionally and behaviorally during each session. We are even more proud that our playgroups are 99% volunteer run - a rarity in the field of shelter playgroups across the country. However, this means we can’t successfully run playgroups without your help! Playgroups are fun, stressful, exciting and sometimes scary so they aren’t for every volunteer, and that’s OK!

Welcome To Online Volunteer Orientation!

We are so excited to have you join our team and help us save over 4,000 homeless animals each year. Follow these steps to start volunteering!

1. Download and read our VOLUNTEER MANUAL

2. Watch the volunteer orientation presentation below.

The Arizona Animal Welfare League prides itself on its amazing and passionate volunteers. Through these training videos and tutorials, we are creating the best informed and engaged volunteers to help make AAWL as successful as it can be. Watch the videos*, ask questions, become a vital part of Arizona's oldest and largest no kill shelter.

Training Videos

Kennels & Cattery

In order to volunteer at the Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old. 
• Be able to provide six hours of service per month for a minimum six month period.
• Be able to squat, bend, twist, lift, or stand for long periods when working directly with the animals.
• Possess strong customer service skills including writing and clear verbal communications in English as all volunteer positions work directly with the public, staff and other volunteers.

Last year, AAWL saved close to two thousand animals who were at risk for euthanasia at other shelters, but who were not quite ready to be put up for adoption. Fostering is a safe, cost-effective alternative to the stressful shelter environment and helps AAWL save even more lives.

As our organization continues to grow and take in more vulnerable animals, we need more dedicated foster families to help care for them until they are ready for find their forever home.