Standard Operating Procedures are designed to be shared with members and new member applicants in the interests of transparency
Key definitions:
| Site / Centre: | A single location housing animals, or a group of locations housing animals but under common management. These may or may not be owned by the rescue |
| Foster Carer: | Typically a domestic home providing temporary care for an animal, or small number of animals. The animals may be housed in the home, or in purpose built facilities on private property. If a foster home is under the management of a specific site / centre of an organisation, it is not always essential to be separately assessed, but the process for selection and management of foster homes will be assessed |
| SAWC: | ADCH’s Standards and Animal Welfare Committee, which has delegated authority from the Trustees to make decisions on Membership |
Procedure:
Further guidance can be obtained from ADCH staff ([email protected])
1. The self-assessment pattern is such that all members are to self-assess every other year, as requested by the Association.
2. Members may be externally assessed in the same year as self-assessment, or in between self-assessment years.
3. Members are exempt from self-assessments when an external assessment has taken place either 6 months before the given self-assessment deadline, or if a committed diary date falls within 6 weeks after the deadline.
4. The assessment form and FAQs will be sent to all members when a self-assessment is due. Advance notification will also be given at an Open Meeting, Conference, AGM or newsletter, whichever is the most appropriate for the time of year.
5. Members will be given 8 weeks to complete the assessment, and will be given a point of contact if they have any queries.
6. Where a self-assessment shows that one or more standards are not met, a note should be given on the area of non-compliance, and remedial plans should be included within the assessment form.
7. Completed assessment forms should be submitted on the online form, to which a link is provided.
8. A report based on self-assessment forms received will be presented to ADCH’s Standards and Animal Welfare Committee (SAWC). The report will include all areas of non-compliance highlighted by members.
9. A reminder will be sent to master contacts for each member of any self-assessment forms not received. If a self-assessment is not received within a further month, the Standards and Animal Welfare will follow up as set out in SOP 7.
10. For non-compliant members, remedial action plans from the assessment form will be reviewed by SAWC and further discussion may take place regarding the scale and implementation time frame of plans. If a non-compliant member has not submitted remedial action plans as part of their assessment SAWC may recommend to the Board of Trustees that their membership be terminated.
11. For members with multiple sites, please refer to SOP4 for guidance on number of sites to be self-assessed.