Can you cuddle kittens, walk dogs, or do grounds work? SPCA needs more volunteers

SPCA Gisborne centre manager Melissa Bennett started her new role in the midst of a kitten boom and she is loving every minute.

“It’s been a busy month but I’ve landed myself in a pretty good team,” she says.

“Everyone has a lot of knowledge and has been able to fill in the gaps.

“It’s obviously kitten season, so we are getting a lot of kittens turning up. There’s a lot that are found out in public and then there are people wanting to surrender their own kittens.

“It’s pretty busy kitten-wise at the moment.”

Miss Bennett says the team are also looking to upgrade the centre with plans to get the place looking better.

Coming from a farming background, she is more used to dealing with larger animals but says there are a lot of skills that she has transferred to her new role.

“There’s a lot to learn from the medicine side and the legal side, but it’s good.

“There’s a lot to juggle that the public  doesn’t see and there’s only so many resources that we can use.”

The centre has seven employed staff and a number of ad-hoc volunteers.

“We’d love a lot more volunteer help. It’s not just about animal cleaning. For instance, we have a lovely lady who comes down just to cuddle the kittens. We’d love to get people who might be interested in dog-walking, dog behaviour, and doing general grounds and maintenance as well.”

Miss Bennett says the organisation encourages people to look online for potential pets to adopt, as applications need to be filled out to assess applicants as suitable pet owners.