Petfinder Blog

The animal cops on TV are heroes to animals -- but so are vets, humane educators, volunteer coordinators and others who work in animal welfare. So how do you break into the field?

I interviewed Ed Powers, Petfinder's vp of strategic planning (and my dad), to find out. He's been working in animal welfare for 26 years, and has been an animal caregiver, animal cruelty officer, director of humane education and director of operations for the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

This is his advice:

1. Volunteer
Ed says anyone can begin by volunteering at their local animal shelter or veterinary clinic. "Start out by getting some good hands-on experience with animals," he says. (You can even sign up in Petfinder's volunteer database.)

2. Do your homework
While you're doing this, do some research online, at the library or at your local animal shelter. This way you can get a good feel for what you are doing. Research types of jobs, what they do and what it takes to get there.

Teens, especially girls, love animals. I've noticed there are lots of young people, again mostly girls, who volunteer at animal shelters and boycott products that were tested on animals.

But when it comes to adoption, most of my peers give me a frightening wake-up call. I've heard of many teens who got their pet from a breeder, pet store or, in one case, for $10 at a flea market.

Sometimes we have debates in class that give me a pit in my stomach. One time, some girls were saying that they loved their dog and bringing it to the groomer, where they put the little bows in the dog's fur.

Somehow, this led to that ASPCA commercial with Sarah Mclachlan. "That commercial makes me feel so depressed," one of the girls piped up. "Yeah," said the other, "I change the channel when I watch that because it makes me guilty about my animals."

Kristen Powers, 14, is the daughter of Petfinder VP Ed Powers. She is the founder of the environmental group Green Teen Clubs.

I was recently working as a counselor-in-training for Piedmont Wildlife Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
It amazed me at the dedication kids there have for learning how they can respect and learn about the nature around them.

These kids, ages 4 to 11, have a desire to learn about anything and everything related to animals. Watching them was brilliant because I knew that I could make a difference in their lives.

While I was at the summer camp, I was carrying my Petfinder.com lunch bag. A little girl in my group came up to me and looked at my lunchbox. Suddenly, her eyes popped and she exclaimed, "I have that same lunch box. Petfinder is awesome!" It's always a wonderful feeling to know that Petfinder has not only reached people looking to adopt, but it is helping to mold the way young children are seeing animal adoptions.