You asked if southeastern Connecticut municipalities allow residents to volunteer at municipal animal shelters.

SUMMARY

There is no relevant state law that addresses municipalities' use of volunteers at municipal animal shelters. This is a local issue. We surveyed 12 southeastern Connecticut municipalities to determine whether they have policies governing the issue: Griswold, Groton, Ledyard, Lisbon, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Norwich, Preston, Stonington, Voluntown, and Waterford. Of these 12, three did not respond to our inquiry (Griswold, Lisbon, and New London).

Of the nine municipalities that responded, only Waterford allows volunteers to work at the local animal shelter. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and sign a liability waiver form acknowledging that they will not sue the town in case of injury. Of the other eight municipalities, seven cited liability concerns for not allowing residents to volunteer; North Stonington indicated that it does not accept volunteers because it does not have a need for them.

Table 1 lists the eight municipalities that do not use volunteers, the reasons cited, and information source.

Table 1: Reasons Municipal Animal Shelters Do Not Use Volunteers

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