In her 13 years at Wood Green, The Animals Charity, head of small and field animal welfare Marie Pavaday-Pillay has seen the number of rescued small animals increase from 30 to 300 – with waiting lists for more than eight species including hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, ferrets and chinchillas. Here we find out what an average day is like for her and the animals she cares for…
8am Marie’s day starts early at Wood Green’s animal shelters in Huntingdon and Royston – but no day is ever the same. “Most days consist of feeding, handling and socialising the animals but there’s a lot of cleaning up poo too, of course!” says Marie. “We’re lucky to have a big team of volunteers who give up their time to help us on a rota basis – there’s a couple whose job it is to walk our ferrets every day, for example!”
9.30am Small animals are being dropped off all the time at the centres, and when they arrive it’s up to Marie’s specialist team to get them settled in. “One day we’ll have couple of ferrets, the next it will be a dozen chickens, but the other day we had 200 rabbits come in so you have to be ready for anything!” says Marie. “When new animals arrive, we’ll give them a complete health check and then they’re off to the vet team for vaccinations. Over a week or two we’ll assess their temperament and get to know them and decide what kind of owner or home will be suitable for them. Every animal has their own personality so it’s key to match them with the right person.”
11am With the centres open to the public all day, there’s always a steady stream of potential owners to meet and greet. “When people come in to view an animal we’ll check the animal they want will pair up well with them and before we hand them over, we’ll show them how to give the animal a health check and how to clip their nails. We actually get them to do it there and then as nail clipping is something people worry about,” says Marie. “We’ll also check they have suitable housing – sometimes we’ll require photos – and we often do home visits to check all’s going well. We’re always at the end of the phone if they need to chat to us about anything and once a year we’ll even offer a free ‘Rabbit MOT’ or a ‘Pig Pamper’ session so we can bath the guinea pigs and do health checks!”
12pm There’s not much time for a lunch break in Marie’s job. “It’s a very tiring job and at times very emotional, but it is the most rewarding job you could ask for. Small animals are often misunderstood and all of us on the small animal team feel like we are their ‘voice’,” says Marie.
1pm Every week there can be emergency situations, which can throw the whole day into turmoil. “There are many reasons why small animals end up with us. Some people buy them from shops where they are not sure on the sex…and then it gets out of control. We recently went to one home where they had 200 rats – and we find people are often too scared to ask for help. They think it will just go away if they literally shut the door on it – but this results in the animals being left in dire conditions,” says Marie. “We have small animal owners who move into rental properties where they’re not allowed pets; children who’ve ‘got bored of their pet’ because parents don’t properly anticipate how much care they need, or that, chinchillas for example, can live up to 20 years; and we’ve even had a couple turn up on our doorstep and say they’re emigrating the next day and ‘can we take their pets?’!”
3pm A large part of Marie’s job is trying to spread the word about small animals and how to properly care for them. “People often think that a hamster will make a great first pet, for example, but in fact they have complex needs and are nocturnal so they’re asleep when you’re awake. There’s also a myth that guinea pigs like to be bedded on wood shavings but actually this is one of the worst things you can house them on as it’s very bad for their skin,” she says.
5pm At the end of another busy day Marie likes nothing more than to get back to her own small animals – a three-legged guinea pig called Chaz (who was rescued after his leg was broken in a fall and had to be amputated) and dog Brian – but her passion for her work at Wood Green is never-ending. “The biggest challenge for us in the last five years has been social media and the free ads where people are selling thousands of small animals cheaply with no proper checks or procedures. People can ring up and have a hamster delivered to their door in a day. In our throw away culture, people think they can just get rid of small creatures but they aren’t disposable. Before you get one, do your research and check that they are the right choice for you and your family.”
