Animal Care Assistant - Casual

2024 is a big year for us as we turn 200 years young! We are proud of our long standing history in campaigning for a better world for animal  welfare. We were the first to introduce a law to protect animals and have been working hard ever since  to ensure that all animals can live free from pain and suffering. Through our campaigns we raise standards of care, and awareness of issues, affecting animals today. Our vision is to one day live in a world where all animals are respected and treated with compassion. And that is what we work towards every day.

We are looking to recruit another like minded individual to join our team of staff and volunteers at Birmingham Animal centre as an Animal Care Assistant on a casual basis to help care for our animals and maintain good health & safety procedures.

Our state of the art facilities in 72 acres of countryside provide the best care for those animals that have been abused, rescued from harm and need specialist treatment. We aim to find life-long new homes for animals at the centre.  

In 2023 we rehomed 67 dogs, 471 cats, 199 other animals. That's 737 animals we found homes for in just one year!

Please note for this role, it is important that you live relatively nearby the centre and are able to reach the centre quickly, as you are likely to be called upon at short notice.

Here at RSPCA we know it's a cliche but no two days are the same, as a Clinic Assistant we've added a short summary of what a typical day might look like, for a full insight please refer to the attached job description.

• Cleaning animal accommodation for cats and dogs to the required standard set by the RSPCA
• Preparing and providing food and water for all animals in the establishment
• Performing regular health checks on all animals and giving medical treatments as prescribed by the centres consulting Veterinary Surgeon
• Attending to the needs of the individual animals including providing exercise/socialisation and grooming for all animals within the care of the centre
• Communicating with members of the public, representing the RSPCA positively and professionally at all times.
• Working as part of a team with staff and volunteers
• Completing all relevant animal paperwork and updating the Centres computer database for all animals held on sit

The role of Animal Care Assistant can be challenging at times and physically demanding, but equally rewarding as you get to be a part of some of the amazing transformations that our animals undertake. ACA's are very important to the day to day running of our centres, and some of the work includes attending to the needs of the individual animals including providing exercise and grooming for all animals within the care of the centre, and completing relevant paperwork, administration. Here's a summary of what we are looking for in you:

• Experience working with domestic animals. Good animal handling skills are essential
• Good communication skills and enjoy working as part of a team
• Good customer care skills
• Animal Care qualifications are desirable

We are really lucky that some of our roles attract a high level of interest and for this reason we review applications as they are received, unfortunately on some occasions this means roles may close earlier than advertised; so early submissions are highly recommended. 

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible

We recognise that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to achieving our core mission. For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA.

Should you need any support with your application or interview process please contact resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk

Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect