Kennel Assistant (Sunday Mornings in County Durham) in North East

Do you love dogs? Do you have a calm and understanding nature? Many of the dogs in our care have never experienced life in a loving, family home. Whilst waiting for someone to give them a forever home, animals receive all the care they need in one of our animal centres, and our volunteer kennel assistants play a vital role under the direction of the centre team.

Our kennel assistants are crucial in caring for the dogs while they wait to be re‑homed. They assist with feeding, cleaning, disinfecting, and maintaining kennels to a high standard. They also spend time exercising and attending to the dogs’ care and grooming needs. All tasks follow current administrative health and safety procedures in place at the centre. You will work as part of a team but must be able to work under minimal supervision. You should feel comfortable and have some knowledge of reading dogs’ behaviour, as well as the physical ability to carry out tasks, though required training will be provided.

What your shift would look like:

• Arrival at 8:30 – quick meeting to review the day’s plan
• 8:30 to 9:30 – cleaning kennels, feeding the dogs and providing medication if instructed
• 9:30 to 10:30 – helping with daily cleaning tasks such as laundry and dishes, and making enrichment for the dogs to keep them happy throughout the day
• 10:30 to 11:00 – break, we have tea and coffee facilities on site and take a break together
• 11:00 to 13:00 – dog walking, socialising, and assisting with baths or grooming needs

You will make friends, meet new people, and care for dogs while they wait for a forever home. It is important that they receive the best possible care and are treated with the utmost patience, as many of the dogs that come into our centres have not had a loving history.

What you will be doing:

• Preparing and providing food and water for the dogs in the kennels as directed by the centre staff.
• Cleaning, disinfecting, and maintaining kennels to a standard of cleanliness as required.
• Attending to the exercise and coat care/grooming needs of the dogs.
• Following current administrative health and safety procedures in the place at the centres and ensuring that they are observed in all aspects of work.
• Liaising with colleagues in the centres, branch staff, and volunteers.

The skills you need:

• Volunteers must be aged 16 or over – some centres may require you to be aged 18 years or over.
• Knowledge of dogs and ability to read their behaviour.
• Must feel comfortable around dogs and have a patient and understanding nature.
• Able to carry out physical tasks.
• Able to work within a team but also capable of working with minimal supervision.

What’s in it for you:

• Meet new people and make friends.
• Learn new skills that can be added to your CV.
• Receive a great induction and training relevant to your role.
• Volunteer in a fun environment at the heart of the local community.
• You will be making a huge difference to the welfare of animals.
• We are happy to reimburse any reasonable travel expenses you may incur whilst volunteering with us.

Disclaimer: Our voluntary roles are subject to an informal interview and trial period. We will ask you to provide contact details for two referees. Before you can start volunteering you’ll need to complete our simple online Health & Safety assessment. At the RSPCA we don’t want you to be out of pocket by volunteering, so we are happy to reimburse any agreed out of pocket expenses you incur whilst volunteering.

Tetanus is a life‑threatening bacterial disease caused by an infection in an open wound. In view of this, everyone should be vaccinated to prevent infection and we require that all RSPCA staff and volunteers must be suitably protected. Tetanus vaccination is carried out in infancy (3 doses), at pre‑school and in adolescence so everyone should have had 5 doses by the time adulthood is reached. This is considered to give lifelong protection, although a booster might be considered if an injury is deemed to be high risk. We request that volunteers must check their vaccination history with their GP’s and if fully immunised no further action is required. If a volunteer has not had the required doses, the GP should offer them free of charge as part of the UK vaccination schedule.