Opportunities for work experience with the branch are limited because of the nature of our activities. Our clinic is very small and is used by Cambridge University for teaching veterinary students, so it is not normally possible to offer any work experience placements there. There is some scope for getting experience of working on the reception desk at our clinic, but this is not really suited to students who just want to do a few weeks' work placement as the clinic is only open four mornings a week and we are really looking for helpers who are able to commit to working for several months.
Helping at the clinic may be suitable for you if you are a pre-veterinary or animal care student who would like to get more experience by volunteering for one morning a week for a fairly extended period (for example during the year before going to college). You will gain experience of dealing with the public, telephone-answering, record-keeping and generally dealing with the paperwork which is involved in running a small animal clinic.
As you will see if you read either of the books by Emma Milne or Josh Artmeier, being a vet is not just about knowing how to deal with animals: both of them comment that they were taken aback by the amount of "people skills" required to survive in general practice.
If you are interested in applying to Cambridge to study veterinary medicine, there is information on their website and on the main University of Cambridge admissions site.
If you are thinking of training as a vet or vet nurse, you may be interested in looking through the education section of UC Davis Veterinary School's shelter medicine website. It includes some downloadable recorded lectures and lecture notes.
Most of our other veterinary help for pet owners who cannot afford the full cost of their animals' treatment is provided via private vets. If you are interested in work experience at a veterinary surgery it is worth phoning your local vets to see if any of them can accept placements. Animals we hold for rehoming are kept in private boarding kennels - again, if you are interested in work experience in kennels it is best to contact local establishments direct.
We can offer work experience placements at our charity shops at 188 and 184 Mill Road, Cambridge and 156 High Street, Newmarket. Activities there are varied and can include:
Income from our shops is vital to our continued ability to help animals and by working there you would be making a real contribution to the welfare of animals and their owners. If you are interested in a work experience placement or just volunteering, please phone 01223 212 644 or drop in at 188 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3LP or 156 High Street, Newmarket CB8 9AQ and ask to speak to the manager. You can call in any day at the Cambridge shops, but Saturdays are best at Newmarket. Alternatively, write to the shop manager at the shop where you would like to work.
The only local centre which can offer work experience directly with animals is Block Fen Animal Centre near Wimblington. The centre is very isolated and has no access by public transport, so you would need to be able to make your own travel arrangements daily. Email: BlockFen@rspca.org.uk
If you want to work with animals you need to be aware that this is a highly competitive and often very poorly paid field. Even vets, who are probably the highest potential earners, can expect to start their working life with a substantial student debt and to work very long, hard hours. Jobs working with animal charities are scarce because nearly all charities struggle to raise enough funds to employ many helpers. If you are thinking about selecting a college course ask questions about the kinds of jobs it will qualify you to do. You need to be aware that basic "animal care" courses won't necessarily lead to a qualification which will get you into employment and you may be better off with something more specific, such as veterinary nursing, farriery or pet grooming which will be of direct use to a potential employer.
If you are thinking of working for an animal welfare organisation, you may be interested in looking through the pages of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Medicine Program. This is based in the US, but with a few obvious differences (for example they have to worry about some diseases which fortunately for us don't occur in the UK) is applicable to many of the problems facing animal rescue organisations in this country.
If you are considering training as a vet or vet nurse it's worth browsing the Vetlife website to get some idea of the amount of stress which can be involved in these careers.
Running our animal welfare activities costs an average of £96,000 each year. This money is spent on keeping animals alive and relieving suffering by paying for veterinary treatments and on boarding unwanted animals until we can rehome them. In an average year we help around 3,000 individual animals. A very large proportion of our welfare work consists of providing low-cost veterinary care for animals whose owners cannot afford the full cost of treatment. There is no National Health Service for animals and without us most of them would either go without treatment or be put to sleep. It is often true that their owners ought to have been more responsible, but we have to deal with society as it is - and unfortunately we are all too often presented with a desperately ill animal and an owner with no money at all. You can view a flow chart explaining how we manage animal intake for veterinary treatment elsewhere on this website. The majority of the animals we take in for rehoming are not simply healthy unwanted animals but are either ill, injured or neglected so they usually require a considerable amount of expensive treatment before they can be rehoused.
We do not receive funding from the Government and it is comparatively rare for us to be given large donations or legacies, so we have to work hard to earn the money that is needed. Most of our funds are raised by a combination of charity shop sales, annual box collections, and a variety of stalls and events.
We particularly need more helpers at our shops, collectors for RSPCA week and volunteers to help with our annual dog show
