News
Having moved from Hampshire where I was fortunate enough to be paid to look after cats in a Cats Protection Adoption Centre, I have been asked to write an article on the differences between working in the Centre and volunteering for a local Branch.
The first and obvious difference is that in this Branch there is no centralised base and everyone is scattered around North Devon working from their own homes. The other major difference is everyone working for the Branch is a volunteer whereas members of staff in the Centre are paid to do the same work! At the Centre we averaged about 100 cats in our care at any one time so there would normally always be a suitable cat for any prospective new owner. Here, with just 8 pens currently available, we tend to average only about 10 cats, obviously limiting the choice and suitability for new adopters. Both the Adoption Centre and local Branch work similarly in getting a new cat vet checked, vaccinated and microchipped as soon as possible. With so many cats at the centre, we used to have a vet visit one day each week to carry out all the routine treatment, and most other days we would drop off cats at the vet clinic for operations. Here, each Fosterer has to make their own arrangements to take the cat to the nearest vet for all treatment. With the Fosterers spread around North Devon using different vets, this makes it more difficult for the Treasurer to collate and check vets' bills. One of the things I miss most about working in the Adoption Centre is being involved in all stages of the adoption process. To explain: if I were at the Centre when a new cat arrived, I would hear about the reasons for it coming in. I then got to know the cat whilst caring for it during its stay and that was when I always ended up with a favourite or two! If the cat was collected on my shift, I also got the opportunity to meet the new owner and to say goodbye to the cat. More often than not, a few weeks after the cat was homed, the new owners would send in photos and a letter to say how the cat was settling in. I always loved reading these letters because it gave some satisfaction to know that a cat I had looked after was happy in its new home. Working for the Branch as a Home Visitor, however, I never meet any of the cats and don't always find out if the people I visited actually got a cat from the Branch at all!
Fundraising is another area where there are vast differences. It was not something we needed to do in the Centre as we were funded by the National Cat Centre, but here in the Barnstaple area there are so many kindhearted and dedicated people who selflessly give up their time to raise money to support the Branch. I would like to praise all the volunteers for all the work they do, and my admiration especially goes to the Fosterers, who not only give up a lot of their spare time looking after the cats in their care, but also give up their privacy when allowing total strangers to enter their homes to view the cats. Kay Twine - Direct Homing Officer As well as helping us with home visits, Kay is also responsible for helping us to reduce our waiting list of cats to come in by liaising direct with original owners, vets and potential owners. This is the first time that we have tried having a formal direct homing system and it will be interesting to see how it works out.
