Pet Care Corner: volunteering at the SPCA
The Boksburg SPCA is very lucky to have a constant stream of young (and sometimes not so young) people wanting to volunteer their time at the establishment and spend time with the animals, but the society also has a number of people who contact them telephonically wanting to know what volunteering involves.
Boksburg SPCA manager, Maggie Mudd, answers the following questions:
How old must I be?
As animals can be quite unpredictable at times, the SPCA does not accept volunteers any younger than 14 years of age and parents or guardians will be asked to sign an indemnity form.
Volunteers must also be reasonably fit and healthy with no allergies to animals.
What will I be expected to do?
Depending on the age and capabilities of the volunteer, this can range from helping to feed the cats and/or puppies and making sure that they have clean and dry bedding, to exercising and dipping dogs.
More experienced volunteers, who have spent some time at the SPCA and have a good understanding of the adoption procedures, can also move on to assisting the general public with going through the kennels and catteries looking for animals that they may like to adopt.
When would I be expected to volunteer?
This would very much depend on the individual and how much they enjoyed their time spent at the society and how much spare time they have available.
However, as the mornings are usually the busiest time periods at the SPCA, this is when they prefer volunteers to come into the SPCA, so it would usually be from 9am to noon.
Can volunteering at an SPCA help me in getting a permanent job at an SPCA?
It will certainly give a person a feel for what working with animals is like and if this could be a possible career choice.
As anyone wanting to start working for an SPCA is asked to first volunteer for a three-month period first anyway, this could be a perfect opportunity to get this volunteering period over with.
It is important to remember though, that the SPCA you are volunteering at may not have any permanent posts available.
Why does an SPCA ask that people volunteer for three months before applying to work there?
This time period gives both the volunteer (as well as the SPCA management) time to see if the person is really suited to this type of work.
Sometimes people can have a somewhat warm and fuzzy view of what working with animals is like and think that it will be lovely all the time.
This is not always the case and there will be days when dogs want to bite and cats will want to scratch and the public will want to vent on you, and those are the times when it can seem all too much and people realise that this is not what they thought working with animals would be like.
Anyone wanting to volunteer some time at the Boksburg SPCA is requested to please contact the society on 011 916 5906/7 and have a chat with Maggie.
* If there is anything you would like to know about the health, welfare and behaviour of your pets, or anything about the SPCA, let the Advertiser know by sending an email to ischke@caxton.co.za.
We’ll try our best to get feedback on those questions!
Mass ride brings cheer to SPCA
