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Become a Wildlife Steward! If you're ready to volunteer, please click here to get started. There are several ways you can help:

Become a wildlife steward
Non wildlife volunteer opportunities


A principal strength of any non-profit wildlife rehabilitation center is its volunteers.

We are no different -- we appreciate and need volunteers for a variety of operational and wildlife care needs.

Some people believe that the only volunteers a wildlife rehab center such as ours needs are those who work directly with wildlife. Not so! Because we only have four paid employees, there are a multitude of tasks with which Board members and other volunteers presently help. Some of these are listed below.

The primary qualifications for Wildlife Care Stewards are:

• A genuine interest and a sincere commitment.
• Must commit to one 4-hour shift per week.
• Have reliable transportation.
• Have a current tetanus vaccination.
• Attend 3-hour orientation class.
• Minimum of 16 years of age.  We take on twelve high-school student stewards at any given time. If you're a student and you're interested in becoming a steward, please complete the application and send it in.

No animal experience is needed, and training will be provided.  Wildlife care stewards range in ages from high school students to retirees and come from all walks of life. We have students, lawyers, doctors, retirees, factory workers, military, and stay-at-home moms and dads. Although we are located on Bainbridge Island, our stewards come from all over in Kitsap County and as far away as King, Mason, and Pierce Counties. 

Wildlife Care Stewards are provided hands-on training supplemented with some monthly classes.  New volunteers shadow senior volunteers to learn hands-on skills.  Wildlife stewards can become as involved as they want.  Stewards are required to choose a weekly four-hour shift (8am-noon, 1pm-5pm, 5pm-9pm from April to August and 9am-1pm, 1pm-5pm from September to March).  We are open 7 days per week.  In addition to the weekly shifts, stewards can assist with rescues, transporting animals to vets, the seal rescue/setting team, fundraisers & events, and education programs.  Wildlife stewards are provided three levels of training: basic, senior, and shift supervisor.

Responsibilities and tasks include:
Level one steward:

• Hand-feeding baby mammals & birds (spring & summer months)
• Daily cage cleaning, laundry, and dishes
• Daily food prep for animals
• Sweeping and mopping of floors
• Transporting of animals to and from vets
• Rescue of animals
• Learning  natural behaviors and species identification
• Assisting with releases

Senior stewards perform the above tasks, plus:

• Training new stewards
• Handling animals for exams and treatments
• Assisting staff with medications and treatments
• Admitting new patients
• Learning more about captive management
• Answering phone calls about injured/sick animals and nuisance critters

Shift supervisors perform all of the above tasks plus:

• Supervising daily shift
• Training new stewards
• Performing triage on new patients
• Administering medications and fluids
• Advanced learning about anatomy and physiology for birds and mammals, creance flight training, and other special skills

Senior volunteers can go on to take their state wildlife rehabilitation license exam and complete their apprenticeship at the Shelter.

Wildlife Care Stewards learn about wildlife behavior, species identification, and ways to co-exist with wildlife.  Stewards then share this knowledge with their children, family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.  Wildlife stewards are not here to cuddle and pet the animals, but instead to provide supportive care and medical treatment so that they can have a second chance at life.  These are not domestic animals; they are wild creatures that must be kept wild in order to survive when they are released.  Release of the wildlife is the ultimate goal of being a Wildlife Care Steward. 

How to Get Started

If you have questions, please call Ann at 206-855-9057, email ann@westsoundwildlife.org, or send us a completed application. You can download an application as a PDF that you can complete by hand and mail OR download the application as a Word document, complete it on your computer, and email to ann@westsoundwildlife.org.

A trusty volunteer helps out at Call to the Wild, our annual auction.

Fundraising -- Does helping with an afternoon tea and fashion show, a meet-the-owl program for children, our gala auction, or grant-writing sound fun? We do them all with the help of our friends!

Carpenters -- We've been fortunate to have wonderful community help when building our mews (outdoor cages). We need some continuous help with basic in-door maintenance and "touch-ups".

Flower-tenders, lawn-mowers (the two legged sort), and weed pullers.

If you are interested in any of these types of jobs, please complete a volunteer application and note what kind of project you'd like to take part in. You can download an application as a PDF that you can complete by hand and mail OR download the application as a Word document, complete it on your computer, and email to ann@westsoundwildlife.org.