Volunteering in Mallorca

Here at Rancho Fino Rescue we are most months of the year in need of a helping hand from animal lovers who want to spent their time and energy to serve ‘the greater good’ by helping us, help them. In the months July and August we have chosen after 12 years of experience to not have any volunteers at the Rancho due to the extreme heat. The last two weeks of December are also not available for volunteering.

As a volunteer at Rancho Fino Rescue, you are available for at least two weeks - live-inn. You come to help us voluntarily with the horses, donkeys, ponies, dogs, cats and all our farm-animals. You are very welcome to stay with us here in our home at Rancho Fino Rescue when own costs are carried.

You will stay in our casita. This is a little guesthouse separated from the main house (where me and my husband live). In the casita you have all the facilities you need for yourself such as an own bathroom with shower, toilet and lavabo, a very nice two-person bed and a small drawer to store clothes and personal things, a kitchen with sink, chopping/work-space, fridge and a 3-pit gas-stove to cook on.

Since the introduction to all the animals, showing you the ropes around the animals and property takes a few days, we stick to a minimum period of two weeks. After these two weeks we evaluate together to extend or not. 

For who? What do we need and what to expect:

We are always looking for physically strong and keen people who really come with the genuine goal to help out with whatever is needed to meet the needs of the animals here at the Sanctuary.

We need true animal-lovers, who see the charm and adventure of stepping into living a basic, off-grid life in service of special needs and rescued animals.
* Off-grid living means that we do not have normal electricity and live of solar and have limited water. So no long showers, sometimes cold and hair-straighteners and dryers are to be left at home… Our animals will find you absolutely stunning however you look anyway!

Someone who is keen to look us up and gain understanding of who we are, what we do and what we stand for. Engagement in our moral cause is very important to us as we dedicate our time, money and lives fully to the rescue, caring and safe keeping of the animals. 

Someone who is/are not afraid of getting his/her/their hands dirty. The work here on the farm is very physical and requires a strong body and mind that is keen on doing farm work.

A very important thing to point out is that helping so many special needs animals like the ones here at Rancho Fino Rescue is not for the faint hearted. Our mission also brings mentally challenging situations when we speak of the direct contact with very sad backgrounds and situations we rescue our animals from. The emotional burden we carry day in/day out is something that gets easily underestimated. So a good and honest self-reflection is essential when it comes to the capacity to carry quite some mental load before coming to stay with us.
Also we do provide a last home, care in the last phase of life and palliative care, so deal with many passings and loss as well.

In between our daily tasks situations will occur unplanned that need direct handling. Such as health- and care- emergencies, new rescue situations, ad-hoc fence fixing, hay covering when sudden rain or storm weather etc. Things that do not fall into a planning or daily routine and need an immediate approach.

What else?
Due to the independence and responsibility that we ask for, we have set a minimum age limit of 20 years. We expect you to treat our home and environment with respect, care and love.

We are very passionate about our mission and the rescue animals in our care. This asks for clear, honest and open communication with each other. Respect, cooperation, solidarity, and honesty are key here.
Of course, we are there for each other and we support each other through the hard parts. We work, live, laugh, but also cry together. 

• If you have mental or physical limitations or are taking certain medications, please let us know when you apply, so that we are not having any ‘surprises’. Rescuing animals requires a lot of energy from everyone, both physically and mentally, and it would be irresponsible if we were not aware of any condition you may have. 

• Since you work with animals, outside, in the countryside on a daily basis, a tetanus vaccination is highly recommended!
  
  An example of daily-routine-tasks;
  
  - Daily haynet-filling and carrying out on the track.This involves collecting the around 20 empty hay-nets from the track/fields and refill them with hay and hang them back, so the equines can eat all and everywhere having 24/7 access to high quality hay.
  - We have 3 main platforms with big hay-feeders that need checking daily. Is there still enough to eat or do we need to refill with the tractor? These platforms/feeding-stations have concrete bases that need cleaning daily, which mean just a sweep with the broom and put hay-spillage from around the feeder back inside.
  - There is dog-poop-scooping first thing in the morning in the garden where we all live and come together. That is an ongoing and never-ending duty during the day. We are always very on top.
  - Keep the facilities and living spaces of the animals and ourselves clean and organised.
  - Cleaning the water-bowls and refilling them.
  -Making sure the pigs, goat, sheep, chicken etc are all having enough bedding, hay, water and food.
  - Cuddling and loving our animals.
  
  * As we still don't make it only by donations, we are left with quite a financial gap to fill every month. We, Sten and myself work as self-employed all over the island as well and do need to leave to work, as we poor all our privately earned money into the charity. Therefore it is very important you are okay to 'hold the fort' when we have to leave to work. Of course that also means chilling with the animals, sunbathing, relaxing, having a walk (in our own forest for example) etc.
  
  Extra tasks we possibly need help with during your stay;
  
  - Vet-visits with animals at the veterinary clinic or here at home.
  - Animal-grooming and providing extra care such as bathing.
  - Emergency animal-rescue situations that come unexpectedly in between.
  - In case of a planned open-day-event, helping with all preparations and being part of the team on the day itself.
  ———————————————
  So are you a true animal-lover that understands that living with and for animals takes a lot of work and dedication. That with all due respect we can not be held responsible for, or meet expectations when it comes to personal problems, spiritual journey or wishes you would have like when you would be on a holiday for example.
  

Can you work independently, but also together as a team to help our project that is about the animals further? Are you interested in becoming a Rancho Fino family member? Get in contact by writing us an email on ranchofinomallorca@gmail.com or write me an personal whatsappmessage where you tell who you are, your motivation and experience.
We do not take phonecalls of unknown numbers and work day and night with quite bad network. So yeah, write to us and we look forward hearing from you!

• Last thing; It can take a little while before you get an answer sometimes as we are incredibly busy always and after working as selfemployed we come home in even more work. If you feel after 72 hours your message is overseen or forgotten about, please feel free to send a friendly reminder because I do loose track sometimes.