Happy 1st birthday!
All this week we’re celebrating our 1st birthday
as we opened our doors to visitors on the 1st June last year. We’ve decorated the centre and have lots of
fun competitions running so please pop down and see us!
We’ve also set ourselves a challenge – cycle 464 miles in 7
days! This is the distance between our 2
furthest centres - West Calder in Scotland
and Ilfracombe in Devon. So in our reception
during our opening hours you’ll find us pedaling away on an exercise bike –
we’ll definitely need your support to keep us going!
Throughout the week we’ll be sharing news and stories about
life at the centre. We’ll be
highlighting dogs needing homes, telling you about the work of our invaluable
volunteers plus giving sneaky behind the scenes views of the centre and staff
roles.
Today we start with our vet suite…..
The veterinary suite at the Loughborough centre is always a hive of
activity! Vet Nurse Annie and Vet Nurse
Assistant Kelly provide first class veterinary care with our 2 Veterinary
Surgeons Emily and Gemma for all our dogs in the centre.
Each day 5-6 operations are performed; these are mainly neutering and
dental work although on occasions other treatments such a lump removel are
necessary. Throughout the afternoon
various check ups are conducted on dogs undergoing treatment plus health checks
on newly arrived dogs or those waiting to go home.
Watch our short video to meet Emily, Gemma, Annie and Kelly and see the vet suite or read
on to hear more from Gemma about her role.
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| Gemma |
My name is Gemma and I am one of the vets providing care for the dogs at
the Loughborough rehoming centre. I started work with Dog's Trust in August
2012 as part of a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
programme in shelter animal medicine. This is a job that involves me doing
clinical work at the Dogs Trust for half my time and for the other half, doing
research to help animals in shelters with the at the School of Veterinary
Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham. I couldn't believe
my luck when I was accepted for the post, as almost a year ago I had already made
the decision to make a career change and had heard about the new rehoming
centre whilst at a veterinary congress. Thinking that I would love to work
within the organisation, I had already approached them to see if there could be
any opportunities for me!
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| Annie |
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| Kelly |
My role whilst I am at the centre is to provide the day to day veterinary
care for all the dogs. This involves routine health checks when they arrive,
providing preventative heathcare and treating any illnesses. Of-course we also
neuter the dogs at the centre, and undertake other minor surgical procedures
such as lump removals and dental work. Last week we performed our first
ceasarian-section, and thankfully mum and all 6 pups are doing well. When I am
not at the centre I am researching into the welfare of shelter dogs and cats. I
am hoping to help develop an understanding of the factors that influence the
success or otherwise of the adoption process so that more dogs can be placed
into homes forever.
The best thing about my role is getting to know all the dogs! I look
forward to meeting the new arrivals and really enjoy becoming familar with
their individual personalities. Of-course they don't all like me as much as I
like them, but it makes me very happy to see how many of them are quite excited
to come into the vet suite when they attend for their final health check before
adoption.
