We've volunteered at three rescue centres, walking and training the dogs there.
1. One was an RSPCA centre in a very rough part of a large city (I assume because the properties are so cheap there, or because people wouldn't complain about noise?). We had to have interviews and fill out forms to volunteer, it was a very long winded process. When we could walk the dogs we only went twice as it was so grim..to get the dogs out on the walk you had to take them through the tiny reception / shop area. This meant that members of the public who were at the desk or looking at the stock would fuss and try and pet the (very excited) dogs...ranging from squealing children to a drunk man who chased the dogs around the room (which apparently happened all the time?!).
Then there were the walks themselves. Because it was in such a rough area the pavements were littered with glass and even needles. We tried to avoid it as much as possible, but we had routes we were supposed to stick to. Over half the dogs we took out those two times had limps and injured paws, I assume from the glass. And the walks were horrible too, just pavement walks on a 3ft lead near busy & noisy roads...
2. The second rescue was based near a different large city, but was about 20 miles away in the countryside. The staff at this centre clearly cared about the dogs, but there were just too many dogs...they had DIY pens for the dogs built out of scaffolding, one dog lived in a car, three lived in a caravan etc etc. The dogs got group (unsupervised) runs in a paddock, and there were piles of rubble from building work left in there with them...The structured walks were on lead walks lasting 20 - 30 minutes, just along a stretch of grass by a busy road then turn around and come back.
3. The third rescue seems to have the most money. We have been volunteering off and on with them for 6 years. It is much more dilapidated now than it used to be...eg. gates to the paddocks don't lock (you have to use the lead of the dog you're walking to tie it shut!). Training for volunteers is minimal, which leads to problems...we have had a volunteer try enter a paddock which we were clearly already using, and because the gate doesn't lock she began opening the gate to come in when 'our' dog was off lead AND didn't like other dogs
The kennels are open to the public, meaning people can walk around the stalls and look at the dogs, but there's no staff supervision...this isn't ideal for dogs that are scared of strangers! One dog has been at the kennels a long time and has intense fear issues with men. He barks when they walk past his kennel, and one member of the public stood yelling at him telling the dog to "shut up"
This rescue has a behaviourist, but they don't seem very good...there's lots of talk about 'correcting' aggression towards other dogs to 'fix' it. Most the dogs are walked by volunteers, especially when the weather's nice, but some dogs are 'staff only'. We've seen staff members yanking the dogs and screaming at them when the dog has reacted to another dog / person.
Last thought about rescues in general. We tried to adopt our first dog through a rescue but were rejected because we were under 25, lived in a rented flat and I don't work as I'm disabled. There are a lot of sweeping generalisations that stop people being able to adopt dogs from rescues, and whilst I understand this saves time as checking people case-by-case would take longer, it seems unfair.
I have typed so much, sorry!
