At Battersea, we rehome
on average about seven thousand
animals a year
in both cats and dogs
Everyone here treats the animals
like they're their dogs or they're
their cats so it is quite hard
to give them up
"Thank you so much"
We're lucky that whenever people come in
to adopt a dog
We've usually spoken to them a good
few times before
We kind of know what they're like
and know whether or not the dog's
going to be in a happy home
and how they'll be together
We kind of manage two sides of the coin
We'll look after a set of kennels
with a number of dogs in them
Making sure their training plans
are being followed
Making sure they are happy and healthy
while they're here
"One of the first things we do"
"in the morning"
"Is come in and check on how the"
"dogs have been over night"
"Hey Ricky"
"Just to make sure that they've"
"gone to the toilet"
"that there's no sick"
"they're not showing any visible signs"
"of stress"
"Hello puppy"
And then on the other side of the coin
We're very customer facing
And whenever people come in
and are interested in a dog
they'll chat to us
We do a lot of matching for people
works a little bit like
a dating website for dogs
And, effectively, people come in
and we interview them
where they start the process online
and then come in for an interview
Basically what we want to do
is make sure that the person
gets the most appropriate dog for them
but also that the dog gets the
most appropriate home as well
A lot of people are thinking kind of
short-term
That they're ready for a dog now
but in a year's time
if they're going back to work
or if something else happens
that may not be the best time
necessarily for them to rehome a dog
"Basically for the first three months"
"There can't be any major"
"changes in the dog's life"
So she obviously was able to
offer a really good home for a dog
but they're moving house quite soon
And going from kennels
off to a new home
and then immediatley moving
house again can be quite stressful
"I know it's difficult looking at a"
"cute puppy who clearly wants"
"to be pet but you can't"
"Any questions?"
Here we'll make sure that
you're set up with the best
opportunity both for you
and for the dog
"It's Max you're here to meet yeah?"
"Yes"
"Perfect"
Rob came in and registered with us
quite a while ago
And two days ago
We rang him up
and Max was available
So we popped the dog on hold
and he came down today to meet
Max is a year old shepherd
Max came in because the old owners
didn't have time for him anymore
"So what we do whenever we come"
"to the block is just write"
"up on the board"
"That way if anyone else comes looking"
"for him they know where Max is"
"What time is it?"
And they just felt like they
couldn't cope with the dog anymore
So they made the right decision
by bringing it into Battersea
"Ready?"
"Who'se a good boy"
"It's alright I know buddy"
"I know"
He is quite an anxious puppy
so he has quite a bit of work
to have done
For us it's making sure
that he's fully aware of what
it is he's taking on
and it lso gives us an idea
of wheather or not the owner will
be capable or if it's the
right fit for the dog
Obviously this is him just
out of kennels
So there's all this pent up energy
He's like "I thought I was going"
"on a walk"
"What is this room?"
He may never have been in here before
as well so
"So pretty"
We also like to make sure they get some
time alone with the dog as well
It could be the best dog in the world
on paper
But if they go up and they don't
kind of make that kind of instant
connection with the dog
then it's not a dog that's going
to go home with them
The best thing about working
in Battersea is just that I
get to work with dogs all day
I'm one of those lucky people
where the forty or fifty
hours a week that I spend and work
isn't so I can go off
and do something fun aterwards
It's like this is what I'm
passionate about
This is what I really care about
It's what I've always wanted to do
and hopefully will always be able to do
You get to make an impact
for not just so many people
but so many animals as well
You never start looking at it like a
statistical thing
it's not just another day in work
or another dog rehomed
Like it's every individual dog
You remember their names
You remember their quirks
You remember the families they've
gone off to
If it wasn't for Battersea
I wouldn't be able to have such
an impact on the world for these animals
And it feels really good
Whenever a dog finally does
get rehomed
it's a mix of emotions
It's obviously why we're here
and we're really happy to see
the dogs go off to forever homes because
as much as we look after them here
this isn't a place for a dog
to stay forever
"You can tell already"
"Even within like five minutes"
"He's more comfortable around you"
"Than when we first came in"
Everybody in the family
has to meet the dog
Including any other dogs
that live in the house
Just to make sure that everybody
gets along with each other
So Rob is going to go home tonight
He seemed very keen
and very interested
so fingers crossed Max
will be going home with him soon
"Perfect, thanks again"
"See you then"
I feel very happy and comfortable
knowing that like every dog
that I send home
They're going to be
feeding it properly
They're going to be training it properly
It's going to be well looked after
And it's going to a good home
Once you take a dog from us
that's not the end of the story
There's so much after-care involved
We've had people that sometimes the
day they get the dog home
they ring us because it
hasn't gone to the toilet yet and
they just want to make sure
that's ok
Or three years later the dog starts
doing something it hasn't done before
and they just want to talk through
the behaviour with us
And that's the thing that
whenever you come somewhere
where it's about the animal and not
about a profit
The animal's always going to be first
and therefore the customer is always
going to be first as well
I think that's really important
There's so many dogs here
that need homes
and need people to come in
and adopt them
If a dog's recently gone home
when you're not one hundred percent
sure if it's going to get along with
a cat or you know how it may be
with this or with that
It's something that constantly plays
on your head because
again at the end of the day
this is someone
this is an animal
This is someone that essentially
whose life is in your hands
You have to decide where it goes
or what to do with it
I think it's the same for all the
rehomers
The vets and everybody else that's here
They're here because they
want to help animals
It's not a job for them
It's what they want to be doing
If it doesn't impact you emotionally
then it's probably not the job for you
"You going to bed?"
"Yeah?"
"Night night"