• Animal Rescue Live
• News
• 27 July 2007

Behind Battersea

We speak to Simon Lynn about re-homing dogs and cats.

In our series of interviews with the staff of Battersea, we spoke to Simon Lynn, a customer service supervisor for re-homing.

Can you tell us what your job involves?
There are three supervisors and we overlook the customer-facing role which mainly consists of the re-homing department, looking for new homes and interviewing potential adopters.

How did you get the job?
I come from an animal background; I used to work at London Zoo in a customer service role. I came here earlier this year, and I've worked with animal charities and other zoos.

What would you advise those wanting a similar role?
It's important to get experience in both customer-facing roles and a little bit of animal background knowledge as well. It really does draw on both.

What are the main criteria you look for in a prospective owner?
We ask people to do their research, that's the main thing. We don''t discourage first time owners at all but we'd ask that they come in knowing the responsibility of taking on an animal.

What do people overlook when considering getting a pet?
People get very caught up in having a pet at home, but you have to consider things like pet insurance, microchipping and all the expenses of vet bills. Also, just spending time with the animals. It's all very well walking the dog once a day but they need mental stimulation as well. They need constant care just as a child would.

What's the process they have to go through?
The first step people take is they come to the home and fill out an application form. They'll then have a short fifteen minute interview with one of our re-homing team.

From there we can get an idea of what experience they've got, what type of animal and what breed they're looking for. We often issue a home visit from there.

Once that's all completed successfully we can then match them to dogs and cats in the home, and hopefully find them the perfect match.

Is it a case of matching a person's personality to that of the animal?
To a certain extent, yes. Every dog and cat has a different personality. Some of them are more boisterous than others and we have to find people that are prepared to take that on board.

We have an assessing department and a behavioural department, and they work with the animals and discover their temperaments.

What makes you feel you've done a good job?
Its always nice to see cats and dogs going home with new owners, knowing that we've found a great match for them.

If you've been aware of the dog coming into the home and that it's come form a difficult background or not come in in the best of health, to seem them rehabilitated and given a new home is very rewarding.

What's the hardest part of your job?
Sometimes homes don't work out, sometimes, for whatever reason, the dog may not settle into the home and they have to come back, or some dogs are here for longer than we'd like.

What's your top tip for choosing a pet?
It's important not to go on first impressions. Sometimes people will come in and fall in love with a dog straight away when quite often the most suitable dog might be a bit shy or might not be obviously the right one.

So take your time, see a few dogs and really make sure you get to the bottom of what you're looking for.