As the largest animal welfare organization in Atlanta, LifeLine is working with our community to redefine “humane.” LifeLine is a progressive leader in national initiatives to serve the community by providing access to resources and support to keep pets with their families, reducing barriers to pet adoption, enriching the lives of shelter animals, helping more lost and found pets return home and working towards a goal of having 50% of our shelter population residing in foster homes. Learn more about LifeLine Animal Project.

Our over 700 volunteers are proud to join our mission and make a difference for the pets and people of our community. Are you in? Sign up to become a volunteer.

We are proud to operate two open admission shelters that are working to achieve and sustain no-kill save rates every month. See our Shelter Statistics page for more info on our save rate month over month and in recent years.

“No-kill” means that we are able to achieve a 90% lifesaving rate, at least, at the county shelters we operate. This means we are able to save 90% of the animals that enter our shelters. This rate is the industry benchmark that acknowledges the need to consider the best interests of the animals in our care, our community at large, and to avoid needless suffering. We always need support from our community to help us achieve and exceed our goals. Adoption, fostering, volunteering, donating and advocating for our cause are all valuable ways to make a difference in our community.

Volunteers ages 10 and up are welcome. However, you must be 18 years old to volunteer independently. Youth volunteers must be accompanied by a parent or designated adult at all times through the orientation training process and for all volunteer activities. 

Youth volunteers can assist with opportunities like making enrichment items and activities for our pets, socializing with our cats, helping with events, hosting donation drives, cleaning laundry and dishes and even supporting our content team by creating graphics and taking photos. While youth volunteers cannot participate in animal handling activities, they can accompany their guardian while the adult handles the pets in our care.

First, create your volunteer account. Then, watch our three digital orientation videos and schedule your in-person volunteer orientation at one of our three shelter locations. We ensure that all of our volunteers, even the most skilled volunteers, go through the same training and onboarding processes. There are many things unique to LifeLine, and we want our volunteers to be well informed before getting started.

Volunteers are also encouraged to grow and learn new skills. LifeLine offers training on reading animal body language and behavior, honing marketing skills like bio writing and pet photography, matchmaking to help adopters find the perfect pet for them and more!

Yes! We have several activities at all five of our facilities that do not involve handling animals, as well as remote volunteer opportunities. Check out all of our different volunteer opportunities and see how you can make a difference!

There are many ways to help support our mission without having to come to a shelter. Remote volunteers complete the same steps as above, but instead of coming to an orientation at the shelter, they can jump right into helping with remote projects like data entry, writing pet profiles, editing videos and making flyers, and helping to reunite lost pets with their families and keep pets out of the shelters. Some other offsite opportunities include driving transports (local and long-distance), participating in our foster program, representing LifeLine at offsite events, holding a donation drive in your community and more!

No. We don’t have a requirement for volunteering per month, but we do recommend that you try to volunteer at least 6 hours per month if possible. If you are inactive for more than a year, your account will be deactivated and you will be asked to complete retraining if you would like to resume volunteering.

We offer volunteer opportunities for community service for educational requirements through group volunteering, individual volunteering opportunities at our shelters and through our foster programs. 

Court-ordered community service is offered through a separate program than our other volunteer opportunities. Court-ordered community service excludes dog walking or cat socializing. Learn more about our Community Service program.

Yes. We offer opportunities for groups of varying sizes. Our volunteer groups are categorized into specific types based on the group makeup. Click here to get started.

Please complete our Event Inquiry form, and our event team will be in touch to discuss the details of your request.

Yes. On our Wishlist page, we link to our Amazon charity list and additional items that can be donated.

Beginning Monday, March 7, 2022, wearing a mask while volunteering is optional. If you would like to wear a mask, please do so, but they are no longer required. 

All locations will continue to monitor the number of volunteers, visitors and clients in our shelters and clinics. The number of visitors in the building at one time can be limited to ensure the safety and comfort of staff and volunteers.

We also continuing to ask that anyone who is experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms or believes they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, to follow current quarantine recommendations.