Doncaster College Animal Care

09/08/2024

Although the animals are enjoying their well deserved rest. They are excited for the return of our students in September so they can introduce them to their new friends, Cactus the Hedgehog and Co.

08/07/2024

And just like that, it's all over! Thank you to all the staff at Shamwari Private Game Reserve, VulPro, Born Free Foundation and Gap Africa Projects you have all been amazing! Everyone has had the best two week in South Africa and seen so many amazing animals and learnt so much about the wildlife. 😊🐒🐆🦓🦌🦁🦨🦏🦒🐘🦅

04/07/2024

Today our students have been to Born Free Foundation and taking part in BIRP (Birds in Reserves Project). They had a look at behind the scenes where the lions are fed. Tonight they are taking part in a quiz to see how much they have learnt during their time here. Who do you think will win? Laura and Charlenes jeep or Jordan and Helens jeep? 🤔

03/07/2024

Thank you to all the staff that attended our CPD session on Animal Health 😁 your enthusiastic participation was brilliant!

Obviously having cuddles with our furry and scaly friends was the best part 🤣

29/06/2024

We had a drive to Port Elizabeth today to the penguin sanctuary, did some shopping and had some food 😊 🥰

28/06/2024

Our students went out to Paterson today, a small deprived community to help a special lady that looks after local orphans. They spent the day decorating her home and playing games with the kids, and they were very kind and all chipped in to buy her some food and brought a huge bag of clothes that will be spread across the wider community. To finish our day off we managed to see the lions and hippos 🥰🦁🦛

27/06/2024

Another amazing day. The students have been at the vulture rehabilitation centre VulPro feeding the vultures and collecting nesting materials. They even managed to see some of the chicks 😍. Thank you to all the staff for giving the students such an amazing experience. Gap Africa Projects

26/06/2024

The students have had an amazing first day today tracking animals, removing invasive plants and having some demonstrations and a talk with the anti poaching unit. Gap Africa Projects 🦌🦓🦏🐘🦒

24/06/2024

Unfortunatley there has been some delays with our flight to South Africa. Students have stayed positive, especially after meeting the Springboks and Kevin Pietersen 😊🏈⛳️ who have all been very kind letting the students get pictures and aurographs 📸🖋.

23/06/2024

Our Animal Management students have checked in ready for their trip to South Africa with Gap Africa Projects 😊

13/06/2024

Congratulations to all the students that were nominated and won awards at the FE Student Award ceremony tonight. You should all be really proud of yourselves 😊

We are thrilled to announce that Alex, one of our dedicated lecturers from the Animal Care Department has been awarded the Staff Member of the Year! This prestigious recognition, nominated by our students, highlights her exceptional commitment and passion for teaching Animal Care. Congratulations Alex on this well-deserved honor! We are all really proud of you 🏆🥳🥰

18/04/2024

Third and final zoo visit for our learners: Rotterdam Zoo. We hope you have had a lovely time and have a safe journey home.

17/04/2024

The learners visited their second zoo of the week: Burgers' Zoo to see the tigers and rhinos.

16/04/2024

Some of our Animal Management learners set off yesterday to tour around various Zoos and Aquariums within the Netherlands. The first zoo on their list: Apenheul.

21/03/2024

Level 3 Animal Management students have been learning points of the horse today at DEC. They had a little competition by labelling the horses up with stickers 😊🫣😂🐴🐎

19/03/2024

19/03/2024

Big shout out to the Foundation Studies students that have grown some grass for our guinea pigs. Safe to say they are loving it!! 😍🐹🌱

12/03/2024

In loving memory of Shrek and Julian 💔🐸🦎.

It is with heavy hearts that today we said goodbye to Shrek and Julian who have been part of the Doncaster College family for 15 years.

Shrek, our Giant African Bullfrog who had not being himself lately was sadly diagnosed with organ failure brought on by his old age. After spending sometime with our exotic vets they agreed that letting him go peacefully was the kindest option to prevent any further suffering.

In recent years Julian, our Beardy Dragon developed eyesight and joint problems which affected his quality of life so the Animal Care team made the difficult decision to say goodbye.

They were both adored by staff and students and will be missed dearly. 😪

Rest in Peace Shrek and Julian 🌈🐸🦎💕

15/02/2024

Spring has come early at the animal centre with the arrival of some baby female degus and male rats, be sure to contact the animal care instructors if you have any name suggestions.

07/12/2023

Our Level 3 Animal Management students have been out to Doncaster Equine College today developing their practical skills working with horses. They've been mucking out, grooming the horses, yard maintenance, team work and learned about trotting horses up for a vet. 🐎🐴

06/12/2023

Animal Appreciation Post!🐇

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the animals at Doncaster College, past and present. There are over 100 animals in the Animal Centre that play a huge part in providing a valuable educational experience of working within the animal industry, allowing students to learn about different species, their habitats, and behaviours. Additionally, interacting with animals fosters empathy and compassion, teaching students to care for the well-being of these creatures.This experience can also contribute to personal growth, reducing stress and improving mental well-being.

All our animals (well most 😂) are extremely patient while students are learning different skills such as feeding, cleaning, handling, restraining, health checking, administering medication and much more. So yeah, lets be thankful for them🥰 ❤️
🐀🐹🐇🐿🦔🐍🐢🦎🐸🦀🐠🪲🦗🕷🐌🦂

30/11/2023

Our Level 3 Animal Care students have been out to Wentworth Family Farm today in the frosty weather. 🥶. I promise they haven't just been for a jolley 😂🙊. They've been busy cleaning, health checking and nail clipping the guinea pigs and rabbits 🐇, putting mite powder on the chickens🐓, grooming the highland cows 🐮 and some handling of the reptiles and exotic mammals in the afternoon🐍🐭🐸🦎.

26/10/2023

What a fantastic time the Children’s University 🧑‍🎓👨‍🎓 have had today in our Animal Centre!

The group got stuck straight in with husbandry duties, showing they understood the importance of maintaining hygiene standards before moving on to grooming a range of our more unusual species such as Shrek (bonus points if you can identify him in the pictures 🐸) and finishing the day with some handling time!

Absolutely brilliant group of animal carers in the making 🙌

Well done everyone ✅

28/09/2023

Level 3 Animal Management students have had a fantastic time at Wentworth Family Farm today. During the morning they spent time working on cleaning out all the animal accommodation, followed by an afternoon of administering preventative care routines to sheep, cows, chicken and goats 🙌

By working with offsite practical facilities such as these, we are able to offer our students a more enriching course, a wider range of species to work with and a deeper understanding of how the industry operates.

Well done all, keep up the hard work.

22/09/2023

Level 3 Animal Management students had their first day of offsite practical yesterday 🙌 After their health and safety induction, they got some hands on work with health checking, restraining and grooming a range of different species.

Other than the weather 🙄🥶 it was a fantastic start to their technical skills development session.

14/09/2023

Ok, this one really is the last one for today 😂😂

Doncaster College offers a mean tested bursary scheme which provides financial assistance to our students.

If you haven’t already, why not apply to see if you are eligible.

Did you know that you may be entitled to financial assistance? This could be for help towards tuition fees, travel costs, printing and more!

To find out if you are eligible, please go to: https://orlo.uk/tZpS0 or request a paper copy by contacting the Financial Support Team.

14/09/2023

Last one for today 🙈

Please do let us know if you are going to be missing class. Not only will it stop us from disturbing you during your illness, but it will also help us to be**er support you during your return.

🤒 Feeling unwell?

📝 Report your absence or sickness via phone call, text, or email! Make sure you contact us before 9:00am on the day of your absence.

Take care of yourself and get well soon! 🌟📚

27/06/2023

Huge thank you and goodbye (for now 😝) to and Gap Africa Projects for the amazing opportunities and support that they given us over the last two weeks.

It was an emotional departure, but well worth the effort and stress of travelling 🙈