Life of an SPCA kennel manager
NORTH RIDING – Leigh de Beaufort conducts behavioural checks, cleans, feeds, provides medical care...
Animals taken to SPCA Randburg in North Riding have the privilege of being cared for by Leigh de Beaufort.
She is a kennel manager at the non-profit organisation and her job is to “make sure all animals that come to us are in a healthy condition”, she says.
She works at the SPCA because “there is a need. If we weren’t here, these animals would roam the street and get hit by cars or cause accidents. We make sure they go to homes instead.”
Her work starts at 8am, conducting behavioural checks on animals.
This involves giving attention to animals that may be lonely, nervous, aggressive or depressed “to make them suitable for a home”.
Then she cleans kennels and feeds animals the correct food for their condition.
She must also monitor that animals eat their food because some will refuse, having gone into depression or feeling unaccustomed to the new environment.
Then De Beaufort provides medical treatment for the animals.
She claims that bandaging one dog’s leg can take up to one and a half hours. She also ensures animals are exercised, vaccinated and dewormed.
Finally, she sifts through the files of lost and found animals, checking if any of them were recently brought to SPCA Randburg.
She works with all kinds of animals, even goats, pigs and emus (see previous article).
Her favourite parts of the job are the immediate gratification the animals give her, and finding homes for them. Her least favourite part of the job is seeing human cruelty to animals, mostly through ignorance. “You have to be passionate to do this,” she says.
Details: SPCA Randburg 011 462 1610.
