To celebrate Volunteers' Week 2020 we’re profiling some of our amazing volunteer home visitors.

Our volunteer home visitors go to the homes of potential adopters to talk about rehoming from the RSPCA and the needs of the animal they are interested in, to make sure they are the perfect match for each other.

The home visit is especially an important part of our adoption process for first time owners as we talk through implications of owning a pet. Later, once an adoption has taken place, home visitors go again to make sure the adoption has been a success and everyone is happy. 

The home visitor role is really important and we’re so grateful for the time and effort that our volunteers bring to this worthwhile cause. 

Focus on Dawn

Dawn is one of our fantastic volunteers. She previously worked as a full time carer but because of her health she had to give up this job. As Dawn has always loved animals, she kindly decided that she would use some of her spare time to volunteer as an RSPCA home visitor. 

The role works well for Dawn because she can arrange visits to fit around her health needs.

Dawn loves the role and gets real satisfaction from rehoming; she is passionate about giving animals a second chance of happiness. She also loves to see the smiles on the adopters’ faces when the animals are in their loving new homes. It’s so rewarding when she revisits a few months later to check that everything is going well. 

All the adoptions Dawn has been involved in have been great successes. Recently, she worked with a prospective adopter who had lost his beloved dog. The adopter had seen a dog on the RSPCA’s Find a pet and was interested in adopting. It was clear that the adopter was besotted, and while he was waiting for the adoption to go through he visited the dog at the animal centre every day. The adoption was a success and both the dog and owner are very happy indeed.

Dawn highly recommends home visiting to anyone who can spare the time. For more information on volunteering (including as a home visitor), visit https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer.

Thank you

Thank you to Dawn and all our volunteers - we wouldn’t be able to help so many local animals in need without you.