Help Us on the Helpline
Our unique Ashford Sanctuary certainly gets the spotlight, however it is just one program of many within Our Companions. There’s Canine College dog training, our Community Cat Programs, our Rehoming Program, our Adoption Program, Save a Home private training- just to name a few! All of our programs are aimed at helping animals, and helping people with their animals! And with so many programs, and a variety of people, animals, and situations, one might ask, “How can I seek assistance with these programs?” The straightforward answer- our Helpline!
Our Helpline Program is the center of operations within Our Companions. It is a hotline that can be contacted 7 days a week either by phone, 860-242-9999 or by email, [email protected]. By phone, you’re offered a number of options as to the reason for your call where you’ll then leave a detailed message. Our amazing Helpline Team includes Helpline Manager, Edie, Community Outreach Manager, Janice, and Adoption and Helpline Program Assistant, Caitlin. The team takes turns covering the Helpline every day of the week, receiving voicemails and emails, logging each inquiry, and dispatching each message depending on the nature of the call/email to our incredible Helpline crew of staff and volunteers. All messages are responded to within 24-48 hours once received.
We wouldn’t be able to respond to each message without this group of dedicated and compassionate staff members and volunteers. They talk to the public about their situation, answer their questions, provide crucial information about our programs, additional resources outside of OC, relay behavioral advice with their pets, and so much more! From there, the public can then get the help they need- whether they are seeking to adopt, looking to rehome their pet, scheduling a behavior evaluation, wanting to get involved in training, need help with vet care, or working through a challenge with their pets.
To get more insight about the volume of calls and how each message trickles into our programs, check out these statistics of our Helpline Program in 2022:
As you can see, our team is quite busy! And each year we’ve seen a significant increase in calls and people needing our help. Therefore, we’re seeking more volunteers to help us answer calls and assist the public in getting the information they need. There are currently open positions for Helpline Community Cat Counselor, Helpline Cat Placement Counselor, and Helpline Dog Adoption Counselor. You can read more about the positions and fill out a volunteer application on our website here! You can learn more about volunteering at OC here! And of course, if you have any questions or need more information, you can contact our Helpline and our team will be more than happy to help!