RSPCA Friends of West Hatch Newsletter Summer 2018 | issue 14 | Page 14

...
e
c
a
l
p
o
n
s
’
There
e
m
o
h
r
e
v
e
r
o
like a f
Owen
-
by Lark Lane
Since I started working at West Hatch two
and a half years ago, I have also been a
volunteer home visitor. I enjoyed assisting
in the rehoming process of our animals and
wanted to do more to get the animals out
to their new homes as quickly as possible.
It is standard practice that all our potential
adopters receive a home visit from a trained
volunteer before taking any of our animals
home. The purpose of the visit is to ensure
that the environment is safe and secure
so that the animals can have a happy and
permanent home. We also undertake a post-
home visit usually about three months later,
to see if the animal has settled in, is being
well cared for and also to assist with any
queries that the new adopter may have.
As an animal care assistant at RSPCA West
Hatch I have the added advantage of
knowing the animal before I do the visit
and can therefore ensure that the home
we have lined up for them is as suitable as
possible. I also get to see the lovely homes
and meet the amazing families that they go
and live with.
Having moved back to the UK from Belgium
two and a half years ago it also helps me
to get to know the area, to explore the
local villages and find parts of Taunton and
Ilminster that I never knew existed! I also
now take out new home visitors after they
complete their training to accompany them
on their first visit.
I thoroughly enjoy being a home visitor
and would encourage anyone who is mobile
and has a bit of time to spare to assist in
getting our fabulous animals out to their
forever homes.
Corporate
Days out !
We have recently held two very successful
corporate days at West Hatch. Twelve
volunteers from Kuehne and Nagel came
out in November last year and got stuck in
helping with a variety of jobs. They were a
great team of people and helped to stain
some of our cat and dog cabins, packed fox
pen panels away, cleaned out hedgehogs and
prepared feeds, cut the cattery grass edges
and moved breeze blocks to a new storage
area. They even took a shed down, moved it
and put it back up in the same day!
We were then lucky enough to have three
staff from CarillionAmey come over
in January. They were a huge help and
improved our dog compound entrances
that had become really boggy with all the
wet weather we had been having. They also
rolled up their sleeves and gave the windows
in our kennel buildings a well needed clean.