Internship Opening – Summer 2025

Peace Ridge Sanctuary currently has an opening for one intern to join our team for a three-month internship during the Summer of 2025.

We are interested in hearing from very serious applicants who want an immersive experience joining the animal caregiving team at our main shelter location in Brooks, Maine. Internships are set up to be mutually beneficial for both interns and the sanctuary team, with significant opportunities for interns to learn from one of the country’s most active and respected sanctuaries.

We are specifically interested in hearing from:

• pre-vet and veterinary students looking to gain practical experience caring and working with farmed animals and equines in a high-capacity shelter setting
• people who strongly believe in our vegan mission and want to gain valuable experience in working towards the goal of working at (or starting) a sanctuary

If you don’t strongly believe in our mission and don’t see working with animals long-term as a future personal goal, an internship at Peace Ridge is not a good fit.

INTERN OVERVIEW – Internships are a great way to gain valuable experience and see first-hand what it is like working at an active sanctuary. Interns work alongside our animal caregivers, both independently and teaming up, and have busy days working outside in all weather conditions. Internships are not only physically demanding, but interns are expected to take their assigned tasks very seriously, to show up on time, and to be a functional part of the team. Interns are given readings to review on their own time, much like “homework” to better put into context best animal care practices, medical conditions, etc. and these readings are required, not optional. Peace Ridge’s main shelter location is one of the nicest, busiest sanctuaries in the country, and we look for interns who are ready to jump in, join the team, learn as much as they can, and help as much as possible. When on-site, all interns are expected to strictly follow the sanctuary’s vegan and cruelty-free policies, regardless of whether they are vegan themselves, as well as all of the policies and standards that are set out in our employee and volunteer handbooks, which prospective interns will be given to review as part of the interview process.

INTERN SCHEDULE – Interns are scheduled to be part of our animal care team five days a week, working for a minimum of 40 hours/week on animal care crew. If you are living on-site and fostering animals, you’ll be responsible for all their care, even on your days off when you are not on crew. Interns living on-site will also be scheduled to help with night rounds two nights a week each week in addition to their regular schedule. Once an internship date is scheduled, we expect interns to remain throughout the agreed-upon duration. Because internships are short-term stays, we cannot accommodate extra time off for interns, other than for illnesses or emergencies. Interns are provided with a weekly stipend.

INTERN HOUSING – Interns typically live on-site in one of our dog pack cabins and are expected to foster dog(s) (and/or potentially other animals) in the cabin throughout the internship, being their primary caregiver. Because our intern cabin is used for foster animals, interns will not be permitted to bring their own companion animals with them. Interns who will be traveling with their own animal(s) will be responsible for securing their own local housing accommodations before arriving. While interns share their cabin with animal(s), we do not have interns share their cabin with other people. We have a couple different pack cabins, but each are nice, cozy spaces with essential furnishings and basics provided. Interns are expected to keep their cabins in excellent condition at all times. Interns living on-site will be required to follow all policies outlined in our policy manual’s housing contract.

APPLY TODAY – If after reviewing the above, you are interested in an internship and think you’d be a good fit, please fill out the following application:

INTERNSHIP APPLICATION

If you’re interested in setting up an internship for college credits, please include mention of this in your application and email info@peaceridgesanctuary.org with any other additional or relevant information needed to supplement your application. Due to the high volume of messages we receive, and how busy it is at the sanctuary, it may take a bit to review your application. We will follow up with qualified applicants to set up an interview process.