Volounteering Orientation

JOIN THE DUBLIN SPCA VOLUNTEERING TEAM

Register to Attend the Dublin SPCA Volunteer Orientation on Saturday, March 12th 2011 at 10am & 12:30pm.

If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with the Dublin SPCA, the Dublin SPCA invite you to attend their upcoming Volunteer Orientation session at 10am & 12:30pm on March 12th.  

   

There are qualifications that you must meet in order to volunteer:

·You must have transportation directly to the shelter. All bus routes only come within 1/2 to 2 miles from the shelter and there are no footpaths or lights on Mount Venus Road so for the safety of our volunteers we ask that volunteers either drive themselves or get a lift directly to the centre.        

·        You must be 16 years old. 

·Can you commit to the shift hours listed below?        

·New Health & Safety regulations require anyone working in Animal Welfare must have a current Tetanus shot so all new volunteers must be up to date with their Tetanus requirements, please ask your doctor for a certificate.  You do not need to get your Tetanus injection for the orientation, you only need it when you start working with the animals.        

·You must be willing to commit at least 8 hours per month.         

Volunteer shift hours are:

Monday - Sunday: 9am-5pm, 9am-1pm or 1-5pm
Exceptions are:
Stable volunteers: 9am-12pm
Adoption Assistants: 11am-4pm Monday - Saturday & 11am - 5pm Sunday

Emma Clarke and Jane Sammon (DSPCA Volunteer Co-ordinators) will be conducting the orientations and are looking forward to meeting you. They will be giving a talk and behind-the-scenes tour sharing with you all the work that they do and opportunities to volunteer. The orientation will run about 1.5 hours. 

This Orientation is designed to give you more information to see if volunteering with the Dublin SPCA is something you really want to do. They are looking for 3 things in volunteers: Aptitude, Attitude and Commitment.

There are many people who want to volunteer with the Dublin SPCA and they will only consider those who demonstrate aptitude, possess a positive attitude, are persistent and patient and those who wish to make a true commitment to the organisation. 

Animal Welfare is about saving lives and improving quality of life for animals and people and the Dublin SPCA have high standards and expectations when it comes to their volunteers. 

TO REGISTER:Email Barbara McAfee  babs108@hotmail.com with your details if you meet all the qualifications and would like to attend.

Please indicate which time you'd prefer 10 am or 12:30pm. 

Please note: spaces are limited so please reply to Barbara as soon as you can as it is a first come first served basis.

Many thanks in advance

  

Emma Clarke & Jane Sammon

Volunteer Co-ordinators  

Dublin SPCA

Mount Venus Road

Rathfarnham

Dublin 16

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=xkmqnycab&et=1104645414492&s=5181&e=001SsusWcsSGV321meCC9HCeFBB-AUVzN-CHorondmvoCiHZ7akEm2XYAAmU9svdS_bLO30miIYQf96-U_1GolyxBa3JwCYGSbFnA0TU2aPJKw=

Click here for a map to the shelter.

DSPCA Week 3

Hey All,

Week3 over the time is flying by. Witnessed the most wonderful donation today from a very caring person, financially massive to the welfare of animals and all from the goodness of their heart, so heart-warming honestly brightened up everyone’s day. There are wonderful people out there. Well another busy and rewarding week and very wet, it did not stop raining all week what’s up with that??? I was driving to work on Thursday the fog was really bad, I turned the corner on stocking lane and what came charging at me?? Two donkeys (pic below) mental, the guys&gal from the DSPCA went down and returned them to their field and notified the owner. Back on the same road then after lunch and same thing again! PJ our wildlife man straight back onto the owner again, really needs to learn to Donkey proof his field. I’m doing a new project at the moment for the Veterinary clinic, im collating success stories of ours for cats&dogs, were then looking at posting these along with the pictures on leaflets that will come with your veterinary pack in the new clinic and on the website. Everyone loves to see a good success story and how the funds raised in the DSPCA go to good work. The new veterinary clinic is now OPEN yaay! 100% of the profits go back into the shelter to make all the difference, if your looking to change practice or begin in a new one knowing full well where your money is going Ring 01 499 4780 for an appointment. Massive uplift again in surrenders last week so many people with genuine reasons and others who just are not willing to put the effort in, dogs especially are not just for Christmas. A sick family of kittens came in last week they are still with us and recovering but my heart bled looking at them gasping for breath and not being able to see, cat flu will do that to cats, as bad as human flu if not worse they had conjunctivitis and breathing problems. Hopefully they will get through it and be up for rehoming in now time. Cats are sparse for rehoming at the moment but kitten season is upon us so we are going to be inundated and it will be mental! Cats won’t normally breed in this cold weather there fussy like us woman ;) Kittens go up for rehoming at 10weeks old so the end of May early June we will have kittens up for adoption should anyone be interested. Camera man around last week filming the next series of our show, at one stage thought it was great to surprise us in the office and get us on film with Molly the kitten jumping around, not a word of notice didn’t have all the makeup on. We have a lovely terrier cross 'Taz' at the moment as mentioned in my last blog his family couldn’t keep him anymore as one of them is terminally ill ;( he is 13years old and full of beans. He doesn’t know he is that old and definitely has a few years left in him, we had him out for a walk today and he just wanted to play and run off not a bother on him. He's out to foster at the moment because the stress of the kennels isn’t helping him adjust, he'd really love a good home if you know anyone interested? As mentioned previously our boarding kennels are open also, they are state of the art and the dogs appear to love their stays, the doting staff definitely contributing to this. I’ve been working with our new developments manager on pricing advertising for the new boarding kennels&cattery so you will soon see adverts in your local papers, the People, Gazette etc keep an eye out, again all profits go back to the shelter. Molly the little kitten who ive featured in my blog is also looking for a good home Jill her foster mother wants to make sure she goes to a good home. Molly is gas, she doesn’t play rough, she’s very affectionate and wonderful with other cats, dogs and people. If you think you can give her a home contact me. The inspectors had a busy week again last week with horses, doesn’t appear to be getting any better, people don’t understand how much it costs to look after a horse, if your ever contemplating it take moment to consider all the money and time it takes, allot. The DSPCA has a wish list for office items, stationary etc if you think you might be able to donate any of these items also let me know I can arrange pickup/drop off. Thanks again for reading guys, hopefully opening your eyes in some way. Marlene

Farrah&Angel kissing

Stray Donkey

Taz out for a walk

Look what i printed! Molly!!

DSPCA Week 2

Hey Guys,
Week two over and it flew in but very busy all the same. Monday got off to a rough start with a man trying to dump his 9-10month old pup on us, the pup apparently had been eating the kid’s shoes and other stuff, digging the garden etc and the wife basically said the dog had to be gone by the time she got home. He had only gotten the dog a few months previous and basically said it was our responsibility to take the dog, don’t know where he got that idea from. When you get a pup you have to put the effort in, they are allot of work and teeth etc like babies, all he needed to do here was to make sure the dog was getting enough exercise and had chew toys like pigs ears for his teething. When he rang he said he was on his way up to us to dump the dog, there is no space for this kind of thing at the moment so after and very confrontational conversation he agreed to leave with the dog and seek the warden, hopefully he kept the pup or found it a good home. Tuesday was another busy and difficult day, I went out in the afternoon with an inspector, we went to a call where a family dog had been injured but the family had no idea what and how it happened. We loaded the old dog into the van and brought him back to the shelter, im not going to describe here what happened to him or what I seen but it was horrific to say the least, he didn’t make it unfortunately and the vet had to put him down when we got back ;( . The nurses notified the family and im sure they were distraught, under investigation the case is to determine how the injuries occurred. I went into the DSPCA with a stereotype of the kind of person who causes cruelty, neglect and abandons/surrenders their animals, that has all be thrown out the window, every person out there is capable of things kinds of things its very scary to think. 9/10 there is trouble in the home whether it’s drink/drugs/abuse etc and not only the people suffer but the animals do then also. The DSPCA also have a programme where if you are in a rough situation at home and you need to get to a safe house and get yourself sorted you can give your animal to us and we will look after it until the person is up on their feet, I think this is great, there have already been people using the programme. The calls for surrendering animals are still coming in hard and fast, its very sad for the animal when people just give up for whatever reason, but there are genuine cases. We had a wonderful family in this week that needed to find a home for their dog, the father is terminally ill and the wife can no longer keep the beloved family dog as if she is around it she can bring in contamination to the hospital where the husband is having treatment. The poor woman was very distraught, not having any space was a big problem here because we have nowhere for the dog, after an appeal from Suzanne our wonderful adoption assistant she managed to talk our CEO Jimmy into letting the dog stay and one of the staff has taken him in until we can find him a home ;) ahh. The lady made a wonderful donation to his care, she was very upset leaving him and he was also pining for her at the window as she drove off. We are about things like that, trying to find solutions for people while trying to be realistic. Also of calls this week into the centre for people looking for kitten season, the season runs from April until October traditionally when its too cold cats won’t breed. We will be inundated with kittens in the coming months so if you’re interested let me know and ill add you to the waiting list. The boarding facilities as mentioned are open and fantastic sanitary facilities (see pics below), cats from €14 a day and dogs €18 find more info on our website. The vet clinic is due to open this week, state of the art facilities and 100% of the profits go straight back into the DSPCA. It costs roughly 2.5million each year to run the DSPCA, care for the animals etc only 4% coming from the government, if your interested in becoming a monthly supporter or even donating once off contact me and ill give you all the information, alternatively find on the website. Mini Marathon time is upon us on the June bank holiday weekend, ive done it before and its great fun, we are looking to reach 1000 runners this year for the DSPCA, if you sign up to run for us you will receive your t-shirt and sponsor form. It’s for a great cause and great fun, the fire men at Donnybrook hosing us woman down alone is enough to get me to sign up ;), you need to sign up here also http://www.florawomensminimarathon.ie/ . Just also want to say thank you fair play to Louise&Cathy who this weekend separately rescued kitten who had been hit and run by a car left with a broken leg and a staffy dog who was let run in Kilcoole village getting hit twice, fair play for taking them in and bringing them to the UCD emergency clinic, the dog has gone home with the owner and the kitten to the DSPCA, will keep you posted on the kittens progress. Ciao for now guys more new and updates to follow with some new exciting prospects, especially for those who like to keep fit!!

New cat boarding

New dog boarding

 Jumbo, needs a home

Angel staffordshite bull terrier, has home, shes so sweet

Calvin,  has home now, has little white underpants under belly, hence his name

Week 1 over

Hey guys and dolls,
Well week1 over, can’t believe it, it flew in and I feel I slotted in very nicely and feel comfortable as one of the team, hope they feel the same of course! Allot of paper work and general contacting people back was done on Friday, I really do enjoy talking with the public, my days in the call centre in Vodafone helped groom me for speaking with customers and even helped to toughen me up for those less than cooperative customers as im sure you’re all familiar with ;) As such allot of contacting people back on Friday in relation to picking up their new pets that are ready for adoption or people who want general information about animals we have ready for adoption or those of course who can no longer look after their pets and are looking to see if we have space to take them. Had to get round to this a little later in the day as we had a power cut for about an hour, the wind knocked it off it was so fierce! I mentioned this of course in my other blog posts, there is a massive influx of people contacting looking to surrender their pets for numerous reasons, the main issue im seeing is people emigrating which links in I suppose with the press reports of 1000 people a week leaving the country I guess. Tis a crying shame ;( The DSPCA is a charity as you’re all aware and its main objective is to look after animals that have experienced cruelty, neglect, accidental injury and sickness but if there is space we will take in animals that people can no longer take care of. Sometimes it feels like some people think the DSPCA is a drop off point for all animals that they no longer want which is not the case. It will be one of my objectives to help re-educate people and support them with alternative ways to rehome their animals, we don’t want people to resort to extremes by dumping their pets etc. The DSPCA's annual running costs run up to 2million a year and only receive 4% of that from the department of agriculture, the remainder needs to be made up by fundraising, monthly donations and adoption fee's. I spent Friday locating contributors whose monthly donations had failed for whatever reason maybe they changed banks; they got a new card and didn’t update their card details or can’t afford it anymore. As its such a large part of revenue I will be contacting these people to rectify this and hopefully help them move to more convenient options, if you want anymore information on how you can help or sponsor an animal drop me a comment below or log onto the website. I will hopefully be out with the rescue teams this coming week and will let you know how I get on. Thanks for reading guys, have a happy Sunday! Marlo

What up? This little kitty Molly is looking for a nice home if anyones interested?

Peekaboo!!

Hey wheres everyone gone?

Day 4 DSPCA

Hey all!
Well another rewarding day, busy very busy the phone and emails and people never give its go go go! The time absolutely fly’s you look at your watch and are like 'hey were on earth did the time go?' which is great of course but are always able to give more. I spent the morning with our resident cat guru 'Neil' in the cattery, with the volunteers we cleaned out the cat pods fed and watered them. I love cats guys they are my favourite, im a massive animal lover but kitties are my fav as most of you are familiar with my constant Oscar updates!! So we had a school visit us today with 75 childers, they were brought to the education room to learn about responsible pet ownership and the 5 Freedoms (see in tit bit). They were then brought on a tour of the shelter (campus) and see all the domestic, equine, farm and wildlife. Hopefully they walk away with a better understanding of animals how to treat them and respect for them. After my morning looking after the kitties I went back to the office to document more paper work, learn from the girls and take some calls from the public. I’m still over whelmed by the amount of people who want to give up and surrender their pets. Understandably there are genuine cases out there but I think some people are ignorant to the part the DSPCA other animal charities play in our society e.g.: ISPCA, Dogs trust, dogs in distress. The DSPCA is here to look after, protect a support animals neglected, injured and cruelly treated, they are not a shelter for dropping off your unwanted pets. If there was space no problem but all the animals who have been abandoned are in desperate need are being housed. I spent the afternoon re-educating people and helping them along their way which was rewarding and positive, my management and communication skills came into great use. As mentioned in previous posts the amount of volunteers that come through the doors is amazing, each day I meet new people willing to give their time for only satisfaction in return is heart-warming. I’m working with people who have had high flying extremely well paid jobs with company cars etc to come to work for a charity, not earn as much as they did make sacrifices in their personal lives but go home in the evening extremely satisfied. How wonderful is that? What we all want in life I believe, to be content, happy and at one with what we do for a living. I've allot of respect and look up to these people. See below the pics I took today, I had a little sprite sit on my desk all day today 'Holly' little kitten about 4months old. She's out to foster at the moment but will be available shortly if anyone’s interested in her. If I had a house she'd be mine tomorrow, she’s great fun and such a sweetie. I learned today that Geese hiss! Who knew because I certainly didn’t and thought it was hilarious. We have all sorts up here and don’t just rehome cats, dogs&horses, if there’s anything specific you’re looking for let me know. Were open during the week until 4:30pm and open weekends too if you'd like to pop up with the family for a visit no commitment to take anything home I promise just pop up and say hi!! Nite all.

Step away for 2secs and my chair is gone ;(

 Working in Cattery

 Crazy Geese

 Inbox Kitty to be filed

Kitty taking over im heading home

Day 3 DSPCA

Hey Guys&Dolls!! 

Well another busy but rewarding day. The surrender problem to me is massive and appears to be getting worse, im talking about people who want to surrender(give up) their animals to the DSPCA for whatever reason eg; moving away, finance, new kids etc etc the list goes on, I have even came across some people who say 'the dogs to needy I cant handle it' . As the old saying goes 'a dogs not just for Christmas', that goes for all animals. As some of you have experienced with new pets there is an adjustment period with them, this can take weeks even months and a range of experiences contribute especially when it comes to having other animals in the house, it takes time people! The DSPCA are there to help and if you or anyone you know needs advice or help just contact us, the contact details are on the website www.dspca.ie. We spent most of today discussing alternatives to people who want to surrender their pets, one persons dog was full of beans when they came home from work and they couldn’t get peace thus they didn’t want them anymore, it was a large breed of dog and stuck in all day every day while their in work, HELLLLLOOOO!!! How would you feel if you were stuck in the kitchen all day every day with no company and exercise no wonder the poor dog was kicking up fuss. We explained the dog needs to be walked a couple of times during the day and someone needs to be there even for a little while during the day to let him out etc. The person accepted this and seems optimistic for the future choosing to hang onto the dog, which helps with our massive capacity issues. Dogs are social creatures, they need to be involved in family life and plenty of exercise, you can’t underestimate the love and good times you will get back from your dog if you look after them. Done allot of paper work today logging donations and adoptions, there are allot of very good people out there which is lovely to see. If you’re interested in donating at all let me know and ill send you out the forms, it can be a monthly thing or a once off payment whatever you can afford and will go a long way towards helping out. The DSPCA had over 4k of volunteer offers last year, an amazing amount of people wanting to donate time, ive done it myself over the years and its very rewarding and you make new friends, if your interested in that either let me know. The new vet’s clinic is coming on well and will be a roaring success with such great staff will keep you posted on the opening date. Learned a fair bit about different breeds today, Lurchers are amazing I love them and really want one their are the sweetest dog, very similar looking to greyhounds and like greyhounds only have a short burst of energy in them then they just want to sleep and snuggle, definitely and brilliant family dog and amazing around kids. If your ever looking for a pedigree dog don’t think that the DSPCA only has cross breeds. They come across everything, at the moment we have collies, boxers, cavalier king Charles, Jack Russell terriers, German Sheppard’s, the list goes on and calls everyday about Maltese, beagles, Samoyeds to be rehomed so don’t go giving your hard earned money over to money hungry (not all are that way im sure) when you find what your looking for in the rescue centres. Well ive ranted long enough im working in the cattery tomorrow which I love so will post how I got on and im also due to head out with the rescue teams which im sure will give me mixed emotions. Nite all man Yana!!

Shy Kitten looking for home                             Pooch&Fraggles, Tashs dogs, our office buddies

Lurchers head on my lap during lunch

Day 2 DSPCA

Day 2 in the DSPCA house! Well another rewarding day, busy busy busy. I spent the day learning the ropes with the adoption consultants; they deal with all sorts of queries from people wanting to adopt animals, speciality breeds, animal safety and the more depressing side of pet surrender ;( . This was the most shocking part of my day today. The amount of people who called through looking to surrender their pets. Some with genuine reasons like moving away and having tried so hard to find them homes with no luck to people who didn’t want to put the effort in to train their pets and wanted the easy way out. Very upsetting but we can’t take it personally and try our best to come up with alternative solutions for these people not always working. The DSPCA will take in what they can but I don’t think people understand that the DSPCA's first call is to support sick/injured/neglected and cruelty animals, as such capacity majority of the time is maxed out with no room for unwanted pets. There’s a long waiting list but do what we can when space free's up. Well onto happier items allot of pets especially cats were rehomed over the last week or so and all gone to new homes. I spoke to a girl in the morning who wanted an all black male cat which we just happened to have and straight after lunch she was up with the kids taking him home, ahhhh 'Bob' finally got a new home, or rather 'Salem' as they newly named him. Learning allot and it’s very rewarding to help people and animals find each other and to help them out. It's only two day in and ive already met some amazing and very generous people and spoke with some very ignorant selfish people, suppose that’s how the world revolves. If you’re looking to rehome and cat or dog from personal experience with Oscar it’s very rewarding, cats require an €80 donation and €135. Reason being when you get the animal it will be nutuered, microchipped, vacinated, deflead and wormed an awful lot cheaper than your local vets. And now with the new clinic you can ensure your pets follow on treatment is next to none and all profits go back into the DSPCA to help other animals in need. I have lots of pictures which im trying to load but still trying to get the hang of this blog business which Paul will help me with, will get them up ASAP if not you will find them on my Facebook. Will post again soon and will put up more details about the DSPCA. Any questions or comments feel free to leave them, thanks all for reading!!!