Organize in Your Community

The Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program serves communities across the United States and relies on an extensive volunteer network, including therapy animal teams, team evaluators, and community-based groups. Team evaluators are particularly critical to increasing the presence of Pet Partners volunteers in local communities because they provide the in-person evaluation of teams that is required for Pet Partners registration.

If you have determined that no Pet Partners team evaluator is available within a reasonable distance for you and others in your community to attend an evaluation, you can be the catalyst for increasing the presence of Pet Partners where you live.

To get started, become familiar with our Therapy Animal Program to make sure it’s the right fit for you. Review the policies and procedures and attend or view a free Volunteering with Your Pet webinar. You can even take the Pet Partners Online Handler Course through the Volunteer Center to gain a deep understanding of the process and expectations for becoming a therapy animal team.

Next, contact us to receive the Community Partner Toolkit. Please use “Community Expansion” in the Subject line. The toolkit contains important strategies and tips to help you get started. Once you’ve reviewed the materials, you’ll be ready to begin identifying others in your community who would like to become Pet Partners volunteers and therapy animal teams with you. If you have questions at any time during this process, please let us know.

For groups outside of the United States, we are excited to be expanding our Therapy Animal Program internationally. Learn more about our international volunteer program. To receive further information, please contact us.