Pet Welfare Assistant - On-site Services (Weekends)

Blue Cross UK

Thirsk

On-site

GBP 24,000 - 26,000

Part time

9 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Holidays + service

Wellbeing support

GP access

Health cash plan

Employee assistance

Pension scheme

CPD support

Life assurance

Pet insurance discount

Family friendly policies

Recognition scheme

Volunteer days

Discounts

Job summary

Blue Cross UK is recruiting two Pet Welfare Assistants for our on-site Rehoming & Fostering team in Thirsk. You will care for pets, perform assessments and rehabilitation plans to prepare them for adoption and ensure welfare standards are met during their stay at our Thirsk centre.

Two positions are available: 7.5 hours each week on Saturdays and Sundays, with a full driving licence required and company vehicles used to transport pets.

Qualifications

Experience with domestic animals or animal welfare environment.
Experience in customer-focused environment and delivering high customer satisfaction.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Good organisational and administration skills to include computerised systems.
Current full driving licence.

Responsibilities

Carry out preparation, assessments and rehabilitation plans for pets.
Ensure welfare standards and follow rehabilitation plans for pets in our care.
Meet with owners, record information, complete paperwork and assess behavioural or veterinary issues.
Provide advice and demonstrations to new owners on care, training and medical needs.

Skills

Animal handling

Assessment

Communication skills

Customer service

Documentation

Job description

Application Deadline: 26 August 2026

Department: Rehoming & Fostering Services

Location: Thirsk

Compensation: £4,996 / year

Contract: Permanent, 7.5 hours per week

Salary: £4,996 pro rata (£24,976 FTE)

Location: Thirsk, YO7 3SE

Closing date: Wednesday 26th August 2026

Interview dates: Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th September 2026

We’re recruiting two Pet Welfare Assistants for on-site animal care, for our Rehoming & Fostering team in Thirsk!

At Blue Cross, we're dedicated to providing the best care possible to pets in need. As a Pet Welfare Assistant for our onsite services, you'll play an important role in our mission, ensuring that every pet receives the love, attention, and support they deserve during their stay at our Thirsk rehoming centre.

More About The Role

As a skilled animal handler and assessor, you will be responsible for the ‘preparation stage’ with the pets in our care which involves caring, carrying out assessments and rehabilitation plans, preparing them for the ‘adoption stage’ or the best possible outcome for their circumstances with minimal delay.

As a Pet Welfare Assistant, you will ensure that the welfare standards are met and that rehabilitation plans are followed and supported for pets in our care. Working independently and with the team you will carry out meetings with owners giving up their pet, ensuring all information is recorded, paperwork completed and that the pet is immediately assessed for behavioural or veterinary problems. Working closely with the Adoptions Coordinator you will provide additional in person or virtual advice and practical demonstrations to ensure new owners are fully aware of the work that has been done with the pet and how to continue with any other additional behaviour training or medical provision.

We have two positions, one position is 7.5 hours every Saturday and the second position is 7.5 hours every Sunday.

At our Thirsk rehoming centre, we provide onsite accommodation for pets in our care 24/7. Overnight shifts are usually undertaken by team members who live on site. Occasionally, you will be expected to carry out night checks or stay in onsite accommodation overnight when the resident team members are either not working or away for a period of time.

A full driving licence is required for this role, and as part of your role you will be using company vehicles to transport pets.

If you excel in an environment where you can see the difference you make every day, then this could be the role for you.

About You

As a skilled animal handler and assessor, you will be intuitive with pets, empathetic and welfare focused having worked in a similar animal related environment. You will also be used to assessing the needs of a pet, alert to the behavioural signs and have a basic knowledge of the use of medication. In addition, you will have a fundamental understanding that the best welfare intervention for a pet is to find a new home and leave on site pet accommodation as quickly as possible.

You will be self‑motivated, forward thinking with a collaborative and creative approach to your work, which will ensure to bring your best pragmatic ideas for the care of the pets to ensure the best outcome is achieved. In addition, you will be able to quickly assimilate information, be competent at accurately recording information while also conducting conversations with clients and stakeholders. You will be an excellent communicator, approachable with strong interpersonal skills.

You will know what it is like to work in an emotionally charged environment and have excellent ‘bounce back ability’ and resilience. In addition, you will be emotionally intelligent, showing empathy and knowing how to support clients and colleagues.

Knowledge, Skills, And Experience

Experience of having previously worked or volunteered with domestic animals or in an animal welfare environment.

Previous experience in working in a customer focused environment and used to achieving a high level of customer satisfaction.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Good organisational and administration skills to include computerised systems.

Current full driving licence.

It would be great (but not essential) if you also had:

Qualification or similar experience in animal behaviour or animal training.

Experience of cash handling.

Experience of working to strict health and safety procedures.

Understanding of safeguarding issues.

Blue Cross Benefits

Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.

In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.

Our generous benefits package includes: