salary
£48,404 to £56,946
Location/travel
Felledge Animal Centre, Chester-le-Street, County Durham
Hours
35 hours / Mon - Friday (no overnight, weekend or bank holiday shifts)
contract type
Permanent, Full-time
values
- We are compassionate
- We are inspirational
- We are committed
- We are experts
- We act with integrity
We have been saving animals for almost 200 years. We were founded in a London coffee shop in 1824. The men present knew they were creating the world's first animal welfare charity, but they couldn't have imagined the size and shape that the charity would become today.
Back then, we were the SPCA - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Royal patronage followed in 1837, and Queen Victoria gave permission to add the royal R in 1840, making us the RSPCA as we're known worldwide today.
Organisation Aims and Mission
Our vision is a world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion. Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect. Our strategy to 2030 will build on this strong platform as we look towards our 200th anniversary in 2024 and the years that follow.
Felledge Animal Centre is certainly one of the busiest animal establishments in the country.
As all the animals that come to the Centre have been rescued from cruelty or neglect it gives the staff quite a challenge to rehabilitate them and prepare them for a new life with caring and loving adopters.
Our cattery can house more than 60 cats at a time with comfy sleeping areas and toys and scratching posts to keep them occupied until they go to a new home. Many require gentle and careful handling at first as they recover from previous trauma and mistreatment until they realise they are safe.
Our state-of-the-art kennels have been designed to cater specifically for cruelty case dogs that have to stay with us for extended periods, sometimes up to a year, while the court cases are ongoing. With over 40 dogs always on site, walking, socialising and training takes up most of the day to keep all the dogs contented while they wait for their forever home.
We are looking for a new team member as a Vet Surgeon to join us at our Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.
The vet team at the centre consists of one Vet and one Vet Nurse.
- Working hours: 35 hours / Mon - Friday (no overnight, weekend or bank holiday shifts)
- Onsite role: Felledge Animal Centre with some offsite work.
- This is not your average Vet job - so, what's different about it? We focus on animal welfare and can offer great hours (shifts are 8:30 am - 4:30 pm with an hour for lunch). So, if you are looking for some flexibility to fit in with your home-life this could be the right fit for you.
- Membership of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
- Interest or previous experience in shelter medicine
- A pragmatic, welfare oriented approach
- Happy to handle dogs, cats, small furries and possibly bird and wildlife initial triage (although not expected to be an expert on wildlife)
- Excellent time management skills
- Ability to work autonomously and make informed decisions
- Great communication skills
- In line with above you will have the ability to explain complex clinical and welfare decisions in a clear and compassionate way to a variety of non-clinical staff, including the animal centre teams and Inspectorate
- A driver's license is essential for this position due to travel required across the region.
Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles may need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK as we are unable to sponsor visas.
- Salary: £48,404 to £56,946
- Contract: Full-time, permanent
- Working hours: 35 hours / Mon - Friday (no overnight, weekend or bank holiday shifts)
Here at RSPCA no two days are the same, but, we've added a short summary of what a typical day might look like. For full insight, please refer to the job description.
Our expert team at Felledge Animal Centre provide life saving veterinary care to animals rescued by RSPCA frontline officers.
They also provide vital support to rescued animals being cared for at the RSPCA centre. Unlike private veterinary practices, our focus is exclusively on rescued, stray, neglected, and abused animals rather than owned pets.
In this rewarding and varied role, you will oversee the treatment and rehabilitation of injured, ill, and vulnerable animals, demonstrating clinical competence across a broad range of veterinary disciplines. Your responsibilities will include:
- Neutering and other soft tissue surgery
- Shelter medicine
- Some sole charge
- Participating in off-site work when required at Private Boarding Establishments in the North East
- Dentistry
- Implementing RSPCA policies in regard to the re-homability of animals, including decision-making on individual cases
- Welfare support work for the RSPCA Inspectorate
Closing date: 22 November 2026
We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible
Our vision is a world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion. Our purpose is to inspire everyone to create a better world for animals. We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed to our purpose. For this reason, we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family!
Contacts
We're here to support you and encourage you to let us know if you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please feel free to contact us at resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk or 0300 123 0685 so we can ensure the process works for you.
For full job details, including the job description, and to apply, click here.