Help us provide an animal ambulance service to safely transport wildlife casualties to the vet or to visit release sites.
by Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital in Sidlesham, England, United Kingdom
ABOUT US
We are a wildlife hospital providing expert care and rehabilitation to sick, injured or orphaned wildlife casualties with the aim to release healthy wildlife back to their natural habitats, where they belong.
Patients at the hospital are constantly changing and we are now finally through our busiest summer season yet, where we cared for over 2,000 seasonal casualties - needing around the clock care. It was truly a rewarding experience to see many of these patients be successfully rehabilitated and released back into suitable habitats. The freed-up space is now needed to house the impending influx of sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs as well as hundreds of other seasonal wildlife casualties. Many of these will need over-winter care and once healthy and up to a good weight, we will gradually release hundreds of these healthy wild animals back into suitable local habitats.
THE NEED FOR OUR SERVICES
Habitat loss, agricultural practices, shrinking territories, human influences and depleted food sources are some of the main factors of wildlife decline. Climate change is also quickly becoming another big threat to the long-term survival of UK's wildlife. The UK has very few specialised wildlife rehabilitation centres capable of the appropriate treatment and care facilities for wildlife. Veterinary clinics, members of the public, wildlife police officers and RSPCA inspectors frequently present us with casualties, as they do not have the expertise or resources to successfully treat wildlife.
Our wildlife hospital is playing an important role in treating and releasing rehabilitated wildlife back into suitable habitats to help stabalise the local decline. However, we continue to see an upward trend in patient admission numbers each year. The increase in admissions is stretching and straining our resources, so we need your support more than ever.
OUR IMPACT
We use research survey data and conclusions produced by reliable sources to inform us of the status of UK wildlife. This assists the charity to put our Mission and Aims into context and to interpret the impact our work has. Two overly concerning wildlife statistics are:
Our staff undergo vital training sessions to learn about handling, medical treatment, proper diet, enrichment opportunities, enclosure management, infection control, animal behaviours and release criteria to establish an appropriate rehabilitation plan. Where possible we aim to release rehabilitated wildlife back to the wild as soon as they are fit and healthy - where they have an opportunity to find a mate, flock, plenty of food, water and suitable nest or den sites.
As well as treating thousands of wildlife casualties we also handle thousands of wildlife welfare enquiries each year. We aim to assist local RSPCA inspectors, police wildlife officers and veterinary clinics by providing a place of well-respected care and knowledge to concerned members of the public with wildlife casualties.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We started off treating just a small number of bird casualties nearly 50 years ago but we now have the knowledge and expertise to treat circa 3,500 wildlife casualties and 125 different UK species. The strain of accommodating a huge increase in patients is stretching our resources and facilities. The problems we faced this year, managing a busy summer with no volunteers, highlighted the need for us to adapt our services so we can efficiently manage the number and variety of wildlife species we are now faced with.
We are in need of a specially adapted animal transport vehicle to safely transport sick, injured or orphaned wildlife who require veterinary attention to our veterinary clinic, as well as attend local rescues to wildlife casualties and release sites. Our old donated vehicle we used as an animal ambulance was not roadworthy, too small and not fit for purpose, so we had to dispose of it. For the past year staff have been using their own vehicles to transport animals - which is less than ideal. It is, therefore, vital that we provide a reliable, roadworthy and safe form of transportation for our team to carry precious wildlife.
Transportation of animals is an extremely difficult and sensitive task and must be carried out with extreme care in a suitable vehicle. Wild animals do not cope very well in a ‘captive’ environment so ensuring they are kept calm and secure in a controlled environment during transit is important. Fitting the vehicle with specialist units to house travelling patients will help prevent them from falling or escaping from the vehicle and reduce the experience of severe jolts or shaking which could cause further injury or unnecessary suffering.
If you are able to offer support towards our Animal Ambulance appeal to help us adapt our services so we can continue to care for wildlife then we would be grateful. Every species plays an important role in our environment, your support could help facilities like ours help wildlife to continue to play their roles.