Posted time August 26, 2022

The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys and mules worldwide. We are working for a world where donkeys and mules live free from suffering, and their contribution to humanity is fully valued. We are achieving this by transforming the quality of life for donkeys, mules and people worldwide through greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships.

 

These are exciting times for the charity and we now have an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated individual with excellent interpersonal skills to join our Veterinary Department at our fully equipped hospital at Brookfield Farm, near Honiton, as Veterinary Pathologist. With a strong understanding or experience of the pathology of equids, you will provide a high quality anatomical pathology service and disseminate key scientific findings to improve understanding of donkeys and their welfare.

 

Your principal duties within this multifunctional and vital role will include –

 

  • Performing thorough post mortem examinations, and collecting and submitting appropriate diagnostic samples from resident animals.
  • Reporting on histopathology from post mortem tissue and clinical tissue samples, ensuring the accurate and timely recording of post mortem and histopathology reports on the Donkey Sanctuary’s clinical database and liaising with the Veterinary team, and other interested parties, on the findings as required.
  • Acting as a source of advice on how to perform, and interpret findings from post mortem examinations undertaken outside of the Donkey Sanctuary.
  • Supporting the veterinary team with disease surveillance, monitoring causes of death in Sanctuary animals and reporting on these as required.
  • Ensuring production of timely and informative summaries of data related to deaths of Donkey Sanctuary animals and sharing information on the significance of the findings of such examinations with others including the veterinary and executive teams.
  • Advising the Donkey Sanctuary and external bodies (inc. veterinary surgeons, welfare officers and donkey owners) on donkey and mule pathology and diagnostics, including contributing to meetings and conferences, tuition of visitors to the post mortem room and laboratory, tuition of Donkey Sanctuary staff and others.
  • Providing pathology training (both practical and via presentations) to interns, veterinary surgeons and students.
  • Representing The Donkey Sanctuary at external meetings and working groups to enhance The Donkey Sanctuary’s profile with organisations/individuals on a national and international basis as a Centre of Excellence relating to donkey and mules.

 

A veterinary degree with MRCVS, together with a certificate in veterinary pathology – ACVP, ECVP or FRCPath – (or pending examination results), and a completed veterinary pathology residency, is essential, as are an understanding or experience of laboratory techniques relevant to equines, excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively at various levels and experience of presenting to an audience and teaching skills to others.

 

If you feel you have the qualifications, skills and experience to fulfil this varied and rewarding role, and would like to play a major part in driving the evolving programme of change taking place within the charity, we would love to hear from you. This is a full-time, permanent contract starting on 1 November 2022, working 37.5 hours per week. Core hours will be 08.00-16.30, Monday-Friday, with flexibility required for on-call out of hours attendance as required. The working pattern for this role will combine working on site and working from

 

home under our guiding principles for such roles. There may be occasions when the post holder is requested to work at another location considered reasonable by the Charity.

 

Closing date for completed applications Monday 17 October 2022.

 

Please note: We reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to this date, and therefore encourage early applications.

 

The Donkey Sanctuary is a Disability Confident Employer.

 

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

This job is Expired