Animal Experience International: Connecting volunteers with global animal welfare experiences

When COVID abates, the world awaits.

COVID-19 has taken many things away from us this last year, things we may have taken for granted like traveling freely, gathering in public places, and meeting people. However, those things pale in comparison to the human cost of COVID-19 which has taken away people’s livelihoods, health, and even lives. With vaccines on the horizon, we can finally think about making our way back into the world and, perhaps, think about how we can help the world while we’re at it. If you’re reading this blog, then two things you care about are travel and animal welfare. There is an international organization that can put these two things together for you.

Imagine working with rescue elephants in Thailand. Photo provided by AEI.

Animal Experience International (AEI) is a Canadian organization that helps people from all walks of life have once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences that would be impossible to plan on their own. What kinds of experiences? Imagine being on a research boat counting dolphins in the Adriatic Sea. Or rescuing street dogs and cats in Mexico. Or exploring caves in Cuba for bat conservation. You don’t need to be a scientist or veterinarian either. You just need AEI.

The organization began in 2012 as an idea from Dr. Heather Reid, a wildlife veterinarian with 20-years’ experience, while she was working with Nora Livingstone, a volunteer coordinator with FEMA certifications. Dr. Reid discussed wanting to make it easier for people who love animals and travel to put these things together by volunteering. Livingstone, who enjoys working with both people and animals, thought it was a great idea. Using Dr. Reid’s knowledge of welfare organizations and Livingstone’s mobilization skills, they created AEI.

“Dr. Heather and I met at a wildlife center in Canada,” Livingstone says. “It only made sense for us to keep on doing what we loved and what we were good at. She continues to make animals happy and healthy. I continue to make sure volunteers are happy and healthy!”

Livingstone was on the ground in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, while still a student at Trent University in Ontario. She says it gave her real-world experience to operate AEI.

Clients have a variety of experiences to choose from. Photo provided by AEI.

“I was able to see how much one could do without having an animal background. There was feeding, cleaning, animal socialization and enrichment, map reading for rescue teams, laundry, cooking, and more,” she says. “This kind of inclusive coordination of volunteering helped me understand that no one should be turned away. There are roles that experts have to be present for, but there are support roles that are important and can be filled by anyone with passion.”

Keep in mind these are not vacations. These are experiences. What kinds of experiences can people have? The organization has provided experiences all over the planet for both domestic and exotic animals in some truly amazing locales. Clients can help with sea turtle conversation on the beaches of Guatemala, study orangutans in the tropical forests of Sumatra, or care for elephants in Thailand.

“I wanted to make it easier to help groups I had volunteered with in the past find great volunteers who were prepared, interested, and dedicated,” says Livingstone.

There is a lot involved with getting volunteers to the right organizations and AEI makes all the arrangements. To do that clients pay a placement fee for this specialized service and AEI does the rest. Clients get an all-inclusive experience that includes airport pick up and drop off, accommodations, most meals, on-site training, donation to the Placement Partner, AEI Travel Manual tailored to the country visited, volunteer handbook, emergency support while on site, carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions, and Premium Individual Travel Insurance of up to $500,000 USD in emergency medical coverage (clients have the option to purchase their own insurance, but proof of purchase must be given prior to departure). Depending on the client’s chosen experience, fees may also include volunteer uniforms (if necessary) and guided tours of nearby geographical and cultural areas. Fees do NOT include flights, entry visa costs, international and domestic airport taxes, immunizations, and medications.

Livingstone has been on all the experiences AEI offers gaining knowledge of each organization. While picking a favorite experience is difficult for Livingstone – “That is like picking my favorite animal. Impossible!” – some experiences are near and dear to her heart.

“One summer I took part in a dolphin conservation program in Croatia. It was incredible,” she notes. “We had afternoons out on a research boat doing behavioral monitoring of dolphins and in the evening we would cook together using local olive oils and wine. Conservation biology has never tasted so good!”

She also says that all the stray dog programs tug at her heartstrings.

AEI has experiences on land and sea. Photo provided by AEI.

“Our programs in Nepal make me so happy I want to burst!” she says. “Volunteers live beside UNESCO World Heritage sites while they help public health and safety by giving the street dogs of Nepal a second chance at life. We also have a number of sea turtle centers, which are great fun because to help them we must live on the beach.”

Livingstone says that both she and Dr. Reid scrutinize every organization. This knowledge is invaluable because one of the biggest fears people have is safety.

“What we provide is security,” says Livingstone. “Security that the group is ethical, run by local community members who are looking out for the interests of the animals. Security that there will be someone there to pick up clients from the airport. Security that you have someone to help you with all the travel speed bumps that come up when you go to another country. Security that dollars and time invested are going to the most ethical and conservation-centric groups we have. Our programs are great because we have been there, so we know exactly the type of volunteers the group is asking for, making the volunteers happy and making the center prosper.”

Safety also extends to the issues of COVID-19. Livingstone had to reschedule all of the organization’s 2020 trips. They are monitoring the pandemic in the countries they visit and figuring out when and how they will reopen. Livingstone is hopeful that all group trips can be rescheduled for 2022, however, they currently have no trips planned for South America due to severe COVID infections on the continent. They will also require that all volunteers be fully vaccinated. This isn’t just to ensure the safety of the volunteers, but to ensure the safety of those living in the country volunteers will visit.

“The risk of spreading COVID-19 to animals and community members is just too high,” she emphasizes. “If we want to be the change we seek in the world, we must do the most responsible thing.”

Something Livingstone has been working on during the shutdown is AEI’s Consent Based Volunteer and Travel Model.

Nora Livingstone (pictured right) has been on all AEI experiences personally vetting each one. Here she is at a turtle conservation center in Greece. Photo provided by AEI.

“We are using the concept of consent and applying it to travel,” she explains. “Does the host community welcome you? Did they ASK you to be there? Are the animals you interact with free to say no to those interactions by leaving – not being tethered, chained, or in a cage or tank?”

Consent Based Travel includes many ethical considerations like the volunteer’s carbon and water footprint and a guidebook to help the volunteer understand the customs of the country they will visit. Other discussions include asking before taking photos of locals and shopping at local businesses to keep money in the community. For more information on consent-based travel and COVID-19 protections, visit the AEI website.

Trips with AEI require a 20 percent deposit six months prior to travel and deposits are transferrable if changes to an itinerary happen. While animal care and medical skills are useful, potential clients do not need these skills to volunteer. Livingstone says some places need support with feeding, cleaning and enrichments, things most anyone can do. Some places need help with conservation monitoring, some with website design and public outreach.

“We don’t look for specific skills for most placements, we just look for the willingness to help. Realistically most hard skills – washing dogs, counting wild horses, preparing monkey breakfasts – can all be taught,” Livingstone notes.

AEI has booked over 800 trips so far and Livingstone is looking forward to booking more trips when it is safe to do so. Most experiences have a one-week minimum because of the time needed for travel and training, but there is no limit on length of stay and volunteers can have long term experiences for several weeks or months if they desire. While costs vary depending on country and experience, the average cost is about $1,900 Canadian.

For those who are interested, but are not sure if this is the right time for them, Livingstone tells them not to worry.

“Traveling can be scary,” she notes, but AEI has a way of making it less so. Livingstone says that all programs must pass the “my sister/mother” test.

“Would I send my little sister, if I had one? Or my mother and still be able to sleep at night? We have 28 programs and so far, my mum has been on two! We look at safety, community leadership, equal and ethical compensation of workers, high standards of welfare, real volunteer work, not just busy work, and transparency. We want to partner with groups who care about the environment, the animals and the community as much as we do.”

“The most common fear is the fear of the unknown,” she adds. “The important thing for travelers to remember is that they aren’t volunteering by themselves. We have sent hundreds of volunteers on trips. We even had three volunteers on the ground when the [2015] Nepali earthquake struck, and our volunteers remained safe. This is because of our great partnerships with people I call friends all around the world.”

AEI is already planning small group trips for 2022. Photo provided by AEI.

Animal Experience International is also a company people can trust. AEI has been a certified B Corporation since March 2013. That means they have been independently certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance. This US non-profit promotes businesses that meet “the highest standards of verified, overall social and environment performance, public transparency and legal accountability.” To be certified, organizations must allow B Lab to go through financial books every two years and follow up to make sure the company is benefiting the communities they serve. AEI also provides educational opportunities with pre-approved professional organizations both veterinary and non-veterinary offering continuing education credits, university credits and college internship/externship credits. Visit the AEI website to learn more about these types of opportunities.

With so many organizations battling for our travel dollars, what is it about AEI that makes it worthwhile? All of Livingstone’s past experience in volunteering and coordinating are put into Animal Experience International.

“People can absolutely volunteer on their own, but they may find that doing it alone leaves them feeling a bit overwhelmed.”

Traveling through AEI means you won’t have to travel alone. In fact AEI offers groups discounts for groups of five or more people. The largest group Livingstone has booked is 21 people. It’s a way for families and friends to bond over something that helps communities all over the world. Plus, volunteering as a group means you don’t have to volunteer alone. With the pandemic keeping us away from our loved ones, a group trip through AEI might be a way to get back together and to give back to the planet as well.

With hope for the future we can begin planning that bucket list international experience we’ve always wanted to take. Find your post-COVID experience through AEI.