Volunteer
Lend your time & Talent to helping wildlife!
For those who enjoy working directly with animals and are excited about interesting, messy, and oh-so-rewarding work.
Animal care volunteers assist with all aspects of wildlife care, including (but not limited to):
- Bottle-feeding baby mammals
- Hand-feeding baby birds
- Daily maintenance care for outdoor pre-release enclosure patients
- Prepping and delivering meals
- Washing dishes, tubs, and crates
- Doing laundry and tidying the facility
- Cleaning and setting up outdoor enclosures
- Prepping enrichment for patients and ambassadors
- Building and fixing enclosures
- 16 years old at minimum to do any tasks at the Sanctuary, and 18 years old at minimum to work with migratory bird patients.
- Vaccinated for tetanus, measles, and COVID-19. Vaccinations are not negotiable. Unvaccinated individuals pose a risk to our wildlife patients and other personnel.
- Available to ideally commit to one 3-4 hour shift per week, depending on your schedule. Volunteers must be able to commit to a consistent biweekly shift at minimum to qualify for on-site volunteer roles. Direct animal handling tasks, like hand-feeding baby mammals, are typically only for volunteers who can come weekly due to the extensive training and increased responsibility involved.
For those who enjoy scenic drives and helping injured and orphaned animals get to the professional care they need.
Unfortunately, wild animals don't know how to drive! Okay, perhaps that's actually quite fortunate. Until then, though, we could use some helpful human hands (and cars).
Sometimes rescuers who have found animals in need are not able to drive the animal to us themselves. In those instances, we connect them with RWS transporters in their area. The rescuer calls the transporter to see if they're interested/available to bring the critter they found to RWS that day. We require rescuers to contain the animal ahead of time, so our transporters are not directly handling any wildlife and there is no risk to you or your vehicle. We also occasionally need transporters to help transport patients from RWS to another facility for continued care. You simply help the animal get where it needs to go!
This commitment is as-often-as-you'd-like, based on your availability and interest.
We take care of nearly 1,000 patients annually, so we end up needing a lot of space for those rehabilitated orphaned animals to go! Folks who own property can volunteer to have their land added to our list of wildlife release sites.
Often our staff will do the releases themselves after getting permission from the property owner to show up on a pre-scheduled day. However, we are always happy to have release site volunteers participate in releases, whether by spectating or by picking patients up from the Sanctuary to release back at their home. Rehabilitation patient releases are truly magical.
Generally, we look for properties that are heavily wooded, at least 2 miles from a busy road (like Rt. 29), and do not have any feral or outdoor cats, including barn cats. A staff member will come out for a site visit first to check out the land and answer any questions you might have.
For those who own property and wish to have our successfully rehabilitated wild animals released there!
There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer for Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary from a desk (or a couch!). We welcome volunteers interested in grant writing, event planning, fundraising, marketing, photography and videography, connecting with corporate sponsors, managing our website, database organization, and other tasks. If you have an area of interest or specific skills you'd like to apply to the Sanctuary, please get in touch with us! We'd love to hear from you.
We do occasionally have openings available on our Board of Directors. Should you be interested in joining our Board, please contact us using the form below.
For those who want to lend their unique skillsets to the vital "behind the scenes" work at the Sanctuary!
Please note that we are closed to the public in order to maintain a natural setting for our wildlife patients. We do not permit visitors without a pre-arranged viewing time. Please do not come to the Sanctuary to visit without scheduling a tour.
If you'd like to schedule a visit, please send us an email or fill out the inquiry form here. We look forward to sharing the Sanctuary with you!
We appreciate your patience and flexibility in scheduling educational events as we receive a large volume of requests.
SUBMIT
Wildlife Hotline: (434) 263-4954
5450 Wheelers Cove Rd.
Shipman, VA 22971
Our phone number should only be used for wildlife emergencies, like a suspected injured or orphaned animal or a pressing wildlife help question. If you have other general inquiries, we would appreciate you contacting us via email or the contact form so we can keep our phone line open for wildlife in need. Thank you!
We are open for intakes 365 days per year. We accept new patients between 9AM-4PM. Call first, please!
Our wildlife crisis hotline
VISITING THE SANCTUARY
Inquiries
CONTACT US
Our phone number should only be used for wildlife emergencies, like a suspected injured or orphaned animal or a pressing wildlife help question. If you have other general inquiries, we would appreciate you contacting us via email or the contact form so we can keep our phone line open for wildlife in need. Thank you!
Our wildlife crisis hotline
VISITING THE SANCTUARY
Inquiries
Thank yoU!
We will respond as soon as possible.
If you have found an injured or orphaned wild animal and need advice, please visit:
Wildlife rehab emergencies
Wildlife Hotline: (434) 263-4954
5450 Wheelers Cove Rd.
Shipman, VA 22971
We are open for intakes 365 days per year. We accept new patients between 9AM-4PM. Call first, please!
CONTACT US
This website and all included graphics are
copyright © 2018–2025 Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary unless otherwise attributed.
Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. EIN 51-0498181.
Thank you for supporting our mission to help native wildlife in Virginia and beyond.