Transcript
Toby: So, today I’m at the RSPCA Centre in Chesterfield on Spital Lane. I have come to hear about the work that they do here. Let’s go and see what’s going on here.
So, this is the public area where people come and see some of the cats that you have got. When are you open?
Chloe: We are open 12-3, Tuesday to Sunday. So, any time anyone is welcome. It’s fully accessible as well.
Toby: And in terms of cats, are you well stocked.
Chloe: Yes. We are always well stocked. We are pretty much always well stocked but definitely at the minute it’s slowed down a little bit so we’ve got quite a few in who are looking for homes. We’ve got young cats we have got old cats.
Sophia: We have got everything for everyone.
Chloe: Everything for Everyone. Any colour. Any pet you can imagine, we probably do have it.
Toby: So, this, I understand is the intake area where new arrivals come. I can see here we have got a couple of young kittens. Do you get many kittens, as well?
Sophia: We get absolutely loads off kittens. Obviously, especially with the kind of households that we typically take in a lot of the cats are not neutered so they often come with their children. We take what we can in. They tend to live in intake because there is more room, it’s quieter. The great thing about kittens is they are popular but obviously we do have absolutely loads of them because they are just – for every one cat there’s five.
Toby: We have got little Zeekie with us here. You have got puppies and kittens. Before puppies and kittens go out what sort of conditions do they go out in?
Sophia: So, they’ll all be flead and wormed, vaccinated and microchipped as standard. That’s the same whether they are adults or obviously young animals. If they are adults as well, they’ll always go out spayed or neutered, as long as they can. If there is, for example, if they are too young or if there’s a medical reason why they can’t yet, or even sometimes we have had dogs that are really nervous and we think it would be better to do it with their owners, they will go out with a neutering voucher so that we can obviously contribute to the cost of their neutering or spaying once they have left. It’s just our policy.
Toby: So, Chloe, Sophia. Thank you so much for showing us around today. Firstly, in terms of volunteers. If people see this and want to help, what do you need volunteers to do at the centre?
Sophia: Well, there’s all manner of roles but at the minute we are really trying to build a Maintenance Team, obviously to help the upkeep of the grounds of the centre is super important. We also have our charity shop, and we’d love some extra hands with the retails and the stock sorting, serving the customers and stuff. We’ve got all sorts of roles, and they are always coming up different things available at different times, but all of our opportunities are on the website, on our volunteer’s page.
Toby: Fantastic. If people aren’t actually able to volunteer, what other things can people do to help ensure we get more young dogs and cats and not so young dogs and cats rehomed in Chesterfield?
Chloe: We have got loads of things coming up. We have got an open day on Bank Holiday Monday in August where people can come down and have tours. You can see some of our animals that we do have available, but you can see what see what services we do offer. We also have an abseil that people can sign up to to earn money for the centre and then we have our Safe Haven project, you can sponsor kennels. There’s loads of things. Always something going on so keep up to date on our Facebook and Instagram.
Toby: Fantastic. So, we need volunteers, we need money and we need people who want to rehome animals:
Sophia: That’s the three things.
Chloe: The other thing is our Kitten appeal. Soo, we are trying to raise funds for emergency lifesaving incubator basically. That incubator will be priceless. Young cats can’t survive without it, so our Kitten Appeal is on Just Giving, it’s on our Facebook and Instagram and we really need some funds for that as well.
Toby: Well, thanks so much for showing us around and if you can help please do.