A home
away
from
home

Every day roughly 4,000 cats are killed in U.S. shelters. But euthanasia isn't the only problem. If spared from euthanasia, many cats languish for long periods of time, waiting in cages for adopters that never come. Golden Paw Society serves as a refuge for the shelter cats of Long Island. 

Using large condo-cages only for helping cats assimilate to cage-free life at our adoption center, our rescued cats settle in fairly quickly with the help of our volunteers' gentle and loving care.  Because our main adoption center is home for up to 40 cats at one time, a volunteer shift consists of a lot of cleaning tasks in order to keep it clean and comfortable for the cats and visitors.

Shift Tasks

Our adoption center recently got a face lift with a fresh coat of paint and new brick facades in every room! 

​Depending on the time of day, you may be scrubbing litter boxes, wiping down cages, vacuuming carpeted cat towers, feeding and washing bowls, or mopping floors. Each shift has key cleaning goals in order to divvy up the cleaning tasks throughout the day. We want volunteers to also have time to enjoy the company of the cats as well as account for visitor interruptions. Being friendly and welcoming towards potential adopters is a crucial part of what we do.

Since our ultimate goal is to find every cat a loving home, adoptions are a huge priority! We have a careful screening process so not everyone who applies to adopt will be approved, but we still want every single visitor to be welcomed and treated well. You will never have to worry about approving or denying applications; we have adoption coordinators volunteers working remotely who handle the paperwork and these conversations all throughout each day. They will privately ask for your feedback which will be taken into account when adoption decisions are being made.

You may find yourself assisting with the actual adoptions! Approved adopters come in to fill out adoption agreements and pick up their new family members. This will be arranged in advance via an adoption coordinator. You will get to witness happy moments like this!

Cat Socialization

We rescue cats from all walks of life, all with varying personalities. Some require extra socialization in order to help them adjust and/or improve their friendliness to prepare them for adoption. A little love goes a long way and we rely on everyone who spends time at the adoption center to approach the cats gently and lovingly to help them trust humans. We discourage picking up cats and carrying them around. We do encourage taking lots and lots of pictures that can be used on our website and social media to help them get adopted!

Getting Started

We offer two hour weekly shifts for people who are able to commit to 3 months of volunteering. When selecting a shift, please be mindful that you'll need to arrive 10 minutes prior to shift start time. We are as flexible as possible in helping find a shift time that works for your schedule. 

Complete a Volunteer Application to get started!