Dartford Animal Rescue

17/08/2024

Magpies are such stunning birds. Photo from one of our transport volunteers 🖤🤍

Do magpies visit your garden?

Did you know they have multiple collective nouns? A group of magpies is sometimes referred to as a murder, like crows; a parliament, like owls; or a conventicle, a gulp, a mischief, and more!

17/08/2024

16/08/2024

Pigeons, pigeons and more pigeons at the moment in rehab at DART! We did transport a hedgehog and a goldfinch today and respond to a goose in need of assessment on site but… it’s all pigeons in the treatment unit! We are still operating at a reduced capacity at the moment due to the situation with my dad. Thank you all for your patience with us and for many of you being willing to drive a bit further out to the next nearest rescue when we have to advise somewhere else.

We are still coordinating a huge number of cases a day so please give us a little longer to respond, particularly over the weekends as I’m often at work at the vets.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful evening ❤️ I’m off to go and give some meds to a bunch of pigeons!

12/08/2024

A fishing hook removal at the Millpond last month. We were alerted after locals had been trying to catch this goose for 2 weeks but she was very flighty and nervous 💔 After we received the report I spent a couple days gaining her trust before I was finally able to attempt capture on the 3rd morning just before my shift started at the vets at 8am 😂

We’ll squeeze in a rescue whenever we can when we know there’s an animal in need! Goosey was able to go straight back to her friends on the lake and has been seen regularly by our wildlife monitor volunteers since ❤️

We always recommend reaching out to DART if you spot a water bird with fishing line or a hook on/in them. Please stay with the animal if you can and wait for a volunteer to arrive but in most cases we would advise against trying to catch the bird yourself. Our experienced volunteers have a higher chance of helping the animal asap if they aren’t spooked by any previous attempts and water birds can be very tricky to catch. There are cases where we would advise you to pick up the animal, for example if the animal is sitting and visibly weak and unresponsive to being approached, so please do seek our advice.

If you regularly walk or work in an area in Dartford with a population of water birds, and you’d like to join our volunteer group of waterbird monitors please DM us ❤️ our rescue hotspots are Brooklands Lakes, The Wharf lake, the Campanile lake, the Pentagon Lake, the Millpond, the Bridge Estate and Bluewater.

07/08/2024

An endless intake of baby pigeons. Here are just two that arrived over the weekend and are both responding to their treatments really well 🥳

04/08/2024

A sad case yesterday with this sweet baby rat who came in after being caught by a cat. Immediate X-rays confirmed that his pelvis was shattered beyond repair and he would never regain use of his back legs or live a pain-free life :( the devastating but necessary decision was made to put him to sleep while he was still sedated.

Rats are no more “vermin” than we are. They have as much right to their beautiful little lives as we have to ours. Rats will always receive the highest quality care from DART, as with any other patient. Sadly sometimes this means helping them go peacefully so they’re no longer in pain.

Rest in power beautiful little boy 🐀❤️ I’m so sorry we couldn’t do more

02/08/2024

One of our many wood pigeon patients at the moment. This baby was bitten by a cat, as are many of the birds that come in to DART. All “catted” birds need a course of antibiotics as cat saliva causes a fatal infection in birds.

If you’d like to make a donation to DART please go to paypal.me/dartfordanimalrescue

02/08/2024

Volunteers Shirley and Danielle, two of our volunteers that cover the Crossways business park area, cleared up an astonishing number of hooks at the campanile lake this week. Read the article below to hear the impact this has on our local wildlife.

Thank you for all you do Shirley and Danielle 🫶

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/volunteers-horrified-after-100-fishing-hooks-dumped-at-lak-310750/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3cYd0ojypFePRGTox2apoTWzsvPXogpFTcSc2CDtE-PizLJUhIoCK1Vc0_aem_KXfozs5JwNog7WzzwnR7Eg

A pair who volunteer for an animal rescue and found a huge number of fishing hooks dumped near a lake are urging people to clean up after themselves.

01/08/2024

Our first emergency call today came in at 4:30am. A Canada goose was found wobbling up Temple Hill with her wings drooping. Some wonderful people working in the Network Rail depot on Temple Hill spotted her and guided her out of the road and inside the gates of the depot where they could keep her safe until help arrived. Rosie, Calum and I then arrived onsite to catch the poor goose.

She was very skinny and tired and clearly in need of some help so this morning our transport volunteer Francis collected her and took her over to The Swan Sanctuary.

Thank you so much to Matthew and his colleagues at the Network Rail depot for their quick thinking in getting the goose to safety and contacting us immediately despite the hour. You’ve given her the best chance of recovery 🤞❤️

Good luck goosey, you’re in good hands 🦢🏥

31/07/2024

This bub arrived today after being found collapsed in the middle of the road 💔 little one is just smaller than a tennis ball. We’re waiting on some p**p to sample and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on as baby has no apparent injuries 🦔

30/07/2024

It’s Green Cllr Laura Edie’s birthday!! 🎂🥳

And even on a day that’s meant to be all about her, she is giving to others.

Laura has asked for donations to DART for her birthday 🥹 if you’d like to donate in celebration of Laura then please go to paypal.me/dartfordanimalrescue

Laura, you are one of the most magical people I have ever met. You radiate love and compassion and inspire me to be the best I can be always. Your heart is like no others’. I am so grateful to have you in my life, as a friend and fellow animal-lover and advocate. Thank you for being born ❤️ happy birthday!

29/07/2024

This sweet baby stayed with us very briefly back in April and went on to South Essex Wildlife Hospital (along with many others from March to May). Thank you SEWH!

I just came across these photos again and they were too cute not to share 🦊❤️

A reminder for next fox cub season: if you see a teeny fox cub(s) seemingly on their own, please first observe them from a distance. They are not necessarily an orphan/sick/injured. Mum is often just moving them, sometimes startled in the process and taking a little longer to return. When we receive calls like these, reunion with the family is always attempted.

28/07/2024

🦚 Rodney the Vigo Peacock UPDATE! 🦚
We’re understandably nervous to post this after the BIG public reactions on our page from a few locals who did not want free-roaming Rodney to leave the village.

Please read the full article before commenting and remember:

- releasing a peacock in to the wild is illegal
- Rodney is in poor physical shape and needed to be seen by a vet ( thankfully he is already improving now he has the chance to have his care needs met)
- We have been fully transparent throughout this rescue. Please don’t spread rumours because you’re unhappy we won’t illegally release this non-wild non-native malnourished bird back in to the village roads
- Using nets as a tool for animal rescue is necessary, of course. Almost every animal rescue organisation uses them and with adequate training and experience they make many rescues possible that wouldn’t have been otherwise
- And finally, the video of the catch is in this article. This will hopefully end the rumours by frustrated locals that the bird was jumped on by my sister (the one filming the video who actually never touched the bird until we were getting ready to leave and I passed him to her while we were both standing up).

Vigo villagers, as mentioned in the article, Rodney’s new sanctuary home is open to visitors. Please do go and visit him and see him finally getting to thrive. Thank you so much to the HUGE majority of villagers who supported this rescue and to the many people that raised the alarm for Rodney 💚💙🦚

Our boy will be just fine now 🫶

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/visibly-unwell-village-peacock-rescued-after-year-roaming-310422/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2Wi76m6iga46EHtkQnPw5DybR9_bgC2TDPK31f61mz8Kr6VVr79x5hR4E_aem_gyS2ivCRJkRaSMj27MhsEA

A peacock who endeared himself to villagers after spending the best part of a year roaming driveways has been rehomed after concerns over his welfare.

28/07/2024

Now an arrest has been made by Kent Police regarding the 8 beautiful canada geese that were killed at Crossways Business Park, DART are focusing our energies on further prevention and deterrents for anything like this ever happening again.

If you haven’t already signed our petition to implement wildlife crossings in the areas the water birds frequently cross, then please sign here and share far and wide:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/implement-wildlife-signs-in-crossways-boulevard

We’re at 782 signatures after 48hours! Let’s keep pushing 💪

Thank you Green Cllr Laura Edie for all your work and support on this 💚

People from across Dartford are in shock with the senseless killing of a group of geese, who were viciously run down along Anchor Boulevard last Sunday. There is no excuse for such behaviour and it's been hard to come to terms with anyone choosing to harm innocent creatures in this way. Crossways Bo...

27/07/2024

The mum of the swan family at the Millpond in Dartford - who has been lovingly named Svanella by our monitoring volunteers - was witnessed becoming tangled in illegal fishing line earlier today. This line was then cut by the fisherman, trailing far behind Svanella and collecting twigs and reeds. While trying to remove the line and other bits of debris now attached to her, the hook went through the skin around her nostril.

This is when we received 2 messages from concerned locals asking if we could help. Svanella had become quite tangled and painful by this point and wasn’t able to get out of the water. Meaning we had the more difficult task of catching her while she was still in it.

Thankfully I was able to grab her and get her sitting comfortably for me to untangle her and remove the small hook from her nostril. This was all made a hundred times easier and less stressful for Svanella thanks to the help of Alex, one of the residents that had reached out us who covered Svanella’s eyes for me when I needed an extra pair of hands to check I’d untangled all of the line.

Due to the residents quick responses, beyond a very small wound from the small hook, Svanella had no significant injuries and was able to go straight back to her husband, Svan, and their babies.

The illegal fishing has been reported.

Good luck sweet Svanella, I’m so sorry you were put through this 🫶

DISCLAIMER - I am not sitting on the swan 😂 I am holding her wings in with my thighs but that is the only pressure I am applying to her. This is to keep her contained and as stress-free as possible while being untangled and cleaned up.

27/07/2024

During the time we’ve not been posting online, our fundraiser for our new treatment unit SMASHED its goal!

We knew this was a huge ask and we can’t thank our wonderful community enough for showing up and supporting us and our wildlife patients. We’re blown away by your generosity, not only in donating - it’s not possible for everyone to donate and that is okay ❤️ - but also in sharing the fundraiser far and wide. Thank you thank you thank you. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

At the end of May, a whopping £581 donation threw us over the finish line. This came from a quiz night and raffle organised by Clair Jarrett in New Ash Green. The first time I met Clair was when she came over to drop off this mammoth donation to the rescue. Before this she was a stranger to me. Clair, the kindness and generosity to do such a huge thing for us is incredibly telling of the wonderful person you are. Thank you so so much.

I also want to spotlight my amazing mum for organising and managing the fundraiser. I love you so so much and am endlessly grateful I get to call you my mum ❤️

So… what’s next? We’ve been receiving quotes for plumbing and electrical works in the unit. This will be coming out of our own budget, not the rescue’s and it was not covered by the fundraiser. If anyone can recommend us some animal-loving plumbers and electricians we’d be very grateful 🫶

So it’s all very exciting!! Our little rescue is growing and we couldn’t do any of it without YOU. So thank YOU reading this 🫶 thank you for being here and being a part of our journey building a much needed wildlife rescue organisation in Dartford. We’ve achieved so much in our 3 years and have BIG plans for the future. So stay tuned… :)

If you’d like to donate to our work please go to paypal.me/dartfordanimalrescue 🌻

26/07/2024

UPDATE FROM KENT POLICE REGARDING CROSSWAYS GEESE CRIME.

“A man has been arrested by officers investigating a report of a collision that led to the death of eight geese in Dartford.



Kent Police was called at 5.36pm on Sunday 21 July 2024, after the birds were found deceased in Anchor Boulevard, Dartford.



Rural Task Force officers started an investigation and, on Thursday 25 July 2024, officers arrested a 19-year-old man from Dartford on suspicion of animal cruelty and driving without a licence or insurance. He has since been released on bail until Friday 25 October.



Sergeant Ross Haybourne said: ‘This was a distressing incident which has caused considerable concern in the local community. We will always investigate reports where wildlife may have been harmed deliberately and I would urge anyone who has information that may assist our enquiries to contact us.’



Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01474 366149, quoting reference 46/122799/24.”

26/07/2024

⚠️ Wildlife Crossing Petition

People living in Dartford have been left horrified by the vicious killing of geese last Sunday. Thank you to everyone who's been involved in dealing with this. Since it happened, I've been in contact with the wonderful volunteers who run Dartford Animal Rescue. They've been doing a fantastic job in liasing with Kent Wildlife Police to bring the perpetrator of this cruel act to justice!

Unfortunately, nothing can be done to change this appalling act of violence, with an individual choosing to behave in this manner. What we can do is to gather in strength as a community and to highlight the urgent need for road users in general to be sensitive to the wildlife living along here, to create an environment where people and nature can co-exist more harmoniously.

We are now calling on Kent County Council to install "Wildlife Crossing" signs. It's imperative that KCC do all they can to help protect the geese and other wild fowl who still live in this busy area. Please sign and share this petition widely, thank you🖊🙏🪿

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/implement-wildlife-signs-in-crossways-boulevard

26/07/2024

Since the harrowing killings of the 8 geese on anchor boulevard at crossways business park, our team have been working not only to bring justice for these beautiful birds but also to implement deterrents in the area for these types of crimes.

Starting with this petition, calling for Kent County council to implement wildlife signs (specifically in the areas where the birds are known to cross). This is just one target of a wider campaign for justice. Thank you so much to Green Cllr Laura Edie for your tireless research regarding road safety in the area and for putting together this petition.

The reality is that more wildlife crossing signs would not have saved these 8 geese. However they may do something to reinforce the etiquette with others of stopping to let the animals cross. We built roads through THEIR land. THEIR homes. The least we can do is stop when they need to pass. Wildlife crossing signs where the birds actually cross will reduce the risk of injury and death from accidental collisions with wildlife too. So we are petitioning for this change to be made.

Please sign our petition and share it far and wide. The way the community has rallied around these birds has been unbelievable. Their families need your support once again now.

SIGN HERE!!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/implement-wildlife-signs-in-crossways-boulevard

We must make a special thanks to our DART Crossways volunteer team: Danielle, Shirley, Monika and Amy. With their knowledge of the movements of these birds (from monitoring them daily for 4+ years now) we are able to map out areas that need more protection, for example where the birds frequently cross. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated and compassionate team to tackle this with ❤️

25/07/2024

So we’ve been very quiet on here. 2024 has been very cruel to my family and while the rescue has been operating at a limited capacity, we have still been working non-stop. I just haven’t had the beans for posting online.

This is the longest hiatus from social media I believe we’ve ever had. But we’re back and have lots to update you on!

But for today, we’ll just say hello again! And share one of the sweet baby starlings we had the pleasure of caring for in the months we’ve been offline. As you can see he was very eager to get out of the box he was dropped off in! He had some nasty puncture wounds caused by a cat 💔 This baby is now back in the sky with his new starling family ❤️

Thank you all for your patience with us during a really hard year 🫶 lots of love to you all

23/07/2024

*EDIT* comments now limited, for obvious reasons 🤦 none have been deleted but it’s getting very silly down there so this feels like a necessary action unfortunately *EDIT*

Male peacock found in Vigo, Gravesend area currently in the care of DART. If you’re missing a peacock please reach out. He has been spotted along a busy road and surrounding houses with many missing and broken feathers for the last 12 months.

Proof of ownership required.

Thank you to all the concerned residents that called us out. Peacocks are not native to the UK and face many struggles in the wild here. If we cannot reunite birdy he will be moved to a sanctuary with other peacocks 🦚💚

23/04/2024

22/04/2024

Me and Rosie are on BBC radio Kent breakfast with Anna Cookson tomorrow morning at 0735 and 0940 talking about our rescue of Sataaj the peacock 🦚

The coverage of this rescue has blown our minds! We’ve had two international articles, numerous national and local ones and filmed a piece for radio and potentially also TV!!

I’m so proud of you Rosie! How lucky am I to have such a cool sister 🫶

20/04/2024

Our peacock friend made the news!
Well done Rosie for an amazing rescue 🦚

A noisy peacock whose loud mating calls from the tops of houses “concerned” neighbours has finally been captured - in an Ikea bag.

19/04/2024

Hi everyone, we’ve been so busy (especially considering we’re technically closed to new intake at the moment!) but we have so much to share. We have new animal residents in the microsanctuary, upcoming training events, some very emotional rescues, articles in the news about our peacock rescue and more! However I’m EXHAUSTED! And therefore slacking on the social media posts sorry!!

Let’s make a deal, if we can get our treatment building fundraiser up to £2,500 in the next 24 hours (it’s currently on £2,129), I will post 2 cases a day for the next week (we’ve got fox cubs, ducklings and ALL SORTS to share!!) AND will make May a “meet the residents” month where I will share daily posts of the stories of each of the 30+ animals that live with us and how they came to join our family.

Sound good? I hope so!! So share away, message you friends, family, coworkers, enemies and everyone in between! Let’s get this treatment building 💪 thank you all so so much for your energy so far. We can do this!

Weʼre raising money to help fund a new treatment building for Dartford Animal Rescue.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

12/04/2024

A wonderful supporter of DART, Clair, has contacted us to let us know she has organised a quiz night to help raise funds for our new treatment building! 🥹

The quiz will be on Saturday 18th May and doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start. It’s at New Ash Green Youth/Community Centre, Ash Road, DA3 8JY situated between the Primary School and the Library. It’s £5.00 pp and max. 8 people per team. There will also be a raffle and a football card!

To book a table please contact Clair on 07990 390551

Thank you so so much Clair, we are so grateful for your help in making our new treatment building happen and allowing us to help more animals in need 🫶

The link to our fundraiser is here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/DartfordAnimalRescue?utm_term=mVnjAwne9&fbclid=IwAR2AP2MiX_BsS6NwCUz4Nq7PlxWyVrCBHzTmFQvsFovl2c23U8Ut0jzLlhg_aem_AbTwt3grWtrXDJwxjXrzwU0AbboGdOVTNMBHBv_Bm9qs7qn9OajYdnXZ0D-ayEc_UsY

Thank you all, every penny counts! 🐣🦆🦊🐭🐔🐢🐀🐌🐇🦇🦜🦔🪿

10/04/2024

DART volunteer Rosie managed the most spectacular rescue yesterday… a peacock! We received a message from another animal rescuer Melissa about a peacock that’d been roaming between neighbours gardens and across a busy road for 6 months! The local peacock keepers had been contacted and all had said this was not their peacock so the poor guy had been fending for himself all this time.

The neighbours informed us on arrival that he was becoming increasingly distressed and lonely and had begun calling out loudly for a mate the last few weeks. So after following him around as he hopped from roof to roof of houses and sheds, he was coaxed down to a suitable spot to try and catch him by Melissa playing peafowl noises on her phone.

That’s when Rosie, armed with years of experience as a water bird rescuer, applied similar tactics to catch this stunning boy. Myself and some of the neighbours covered his escape routes as Rosie made the most spectacular catch I have ever seen and got this boy secured.

Rosie is my younger sister, as many of you will know already, and I stillcannot stop beaming when I think of what she’s helped us achieve as a rescue for so many animals in need. Her first peacock catch and it was perfect. We got him contained and he was very calm and we are heading off to The Retreat Animal Rescue Farm Sanctuary and Cafe with him as I type this! (Thank you Calum for transporting us and to the Retreat for taking him 🫶)

Well done everyone involved, particularly Rosie, the absolute star of the show.

One of the neighbours named the Peacock Saataj. We love you Saataj, just wait until you see your new home at the Retreat and all the peacocks and peahens waiting for you there. We hope you love your new peafamily 🦚❤️

09/04/2024

Straight after getting in from the human hospital last night, we got an emergency call. Volunteers Rosie and Francis prepped to come with me as this was going to be a multiple person job and two of our wonderful monitoring volunteers Pepe and Faye waited with our poorly patient: a Canada goose. Pepe and Faye managed to deter the swan who was attempting to drown our poorly goose, while we rushed to the site to help.

We were able to use a new piece of equipment: a goose hook, which was a huge help in this case. We have used these before but on loan from other rescues and rescuers, this was our first time using our own. Together we were able to catch our boy, who my dad has called Yankee Doodle. He’s very skinny and weak and left this morning to go to South Essex Wildlife Hospital for diagnosis as we are closed to new intake due to my dad being back in hospital.

As always, an amazing team effort 🫶

This was an anniversary rescue for us, taking place on the evening of the rescue’s 3rd birthday. If you’d like make a birthday donation towards our new treatment building the link is here https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/DartfordAnimalRescue?utm_term=mVnjAwne9 ❤️

08/04/2024

It’s our birthday! 3 years of the Dartford Animal Rescue Team, and what a 3 years it’s been. I don’t really have the energy today to write a proper post but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has made this possible and continues to make this possible 🫶 I’m so proud of us all and so grateful for this chaotic life of animal rescue we dedicate ourselves to ❤️

If you’d like to get us a little birthday present, please donate to our fundraiser for our new treatment building https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/DartfordAnimalRescue?utm_term=mVnjAwne9 we’re just over halfway to our goal!

And enjoy the photos below that I’ve collect in a rush for this post, of some of our wonderful team over the years.