Volunteer tourism and Dog Rehoming: Collaborating for interspecies cultures of care

Abstract

In transnational practices of animal rescue and rehoming, homeless animals are brought to shelters and subsequently made available for rehoming through charities in other countries. This chapter explores experiences of volunteer tourism within transnational dog rescue practices in Romania, Bulgaria and Russia, based on interviews with volunteers from animal rescue charities in Finland. The chapter focuses on how animal rescue work is experienced as tourism by volunteers from Finland collaborating with actors in another country, caring for homeless animals in the host communities. In Finland, the charities involved operate on a voluntary basis, and the volunteers travelling to the host country do not participate in a specific programme. The role of travel combined with the rewarding experiences gained by volunteers assisting with transnational animal rescue, however, place these practices within the realm of volunteer tourism.