We provide a wildlife rescue, treatment and rehabilitation service covering the West Wight area, concentrating on the larger or more dangerous species of wildlife that require specialist knowledge and facilities to properly care for. Primarily, this involves sick, injured or orphaned Foxes, Badgers, Swans, Seabirds and Birds of Prey.
Our service area is West Wight* as this is where we live and work. Subject to other commitments, we will assist elsewhere on the island if we can with incidents involving any of the species listed above, but please understand that this will not always be possible..
We have a very well equipped clinic and intensive care unit, equipped to provide life-saving support to even the most critical casualties. We also have enclosures and pens located both at our main facility and on private land where animals can recover and rehabilitate fully prior to release.
Our main ambulance carries a full range of life saving equipment including on-board oxygen, fluid therapy and heat pads as well as various stretchers, catching aids and transport cages. Our 4x4 response unit is equipped with specialist rescue kit, including inflatable pathways and safety equipment for accessing casualties in dangerous locations and is also responsible for towing our trailer which carries our 2 inflatable in-shore boats. We also have a fast 150hp sea-going Rib based in Yarmouth for major coastal incidents and releases at sea. Our team have been actively involved in various large scale incidents including the rescue of several contaminated seabirds in an incident that affected the East and South Coasts of the island in October 2019
In addition to our main work with wildlife, we will attend, whenever possible, any injured cat or dog in need of immediate assistance in the West Wight area, where no owner is present. If we are unable to trace the owner on scene, we will take the animal to the Carisbrooke Vets and cover the costs of any initial lifesaving treatment that may be required until the owner comes forward.
*(West Wight area defined as Freshwater, Totland, Yarmouth, Shalfleet, Calbourne, Brightstone and surrounding hamlets and villages)
OUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE (On the North Island!!)
We have over 20 years experience in caring for both wild and domestic animals, primarily gained from running a large professional facility on the mainland between 1997 and 2016. This facility cared for up to 4000 sick, injured and orphaned wild animals every year, ranging in size from tiny dormice through to roe and fallow deer and provided a fully equipped paramedic response service for the most serious casualties. We undertook post release monitoring and operated controlled soft release programmes for particular species and worked in partnership with various bodies including Bat, Badger and Fox specialists
Between 2010 and 2016, in response to continual calls for help from the public, local vets and the police, we established a cat welfare unit where we looked after approximately 150 cats and kittens each year, rescued from crisis situations. We provided a full range of veterinary and welfare services and took pride in placing all of our rescued cats in loving homes.
We also spent 6 years running the statutory stray dog (dog warden) service for 2 London Boroughs on a 24/7/365 basis and for a third borough at evenings and weekends, bringing hundreds of dogs into our care every year. As part of this work, we were responsible for re-homing many abandoned and unclaimed dogs and also for running microchipping and responsible dog owner events for the general public. We were one of the original partners in the Metropolitan Police’s LEAD initiative, aimed at tackling irresponsible dog ownership and worked with them on a number of successful projects.
In addition to a salaried staff of 10-12 personnel, we ran a volunteer team of around 100 animal carers who each committed to one or more shifts per week, ranging in their duties from cleaning and feeding wildlife through to dog walking and cat socialising. We were a recognised EMS centre for trainee vets and for students studying for HND’s and NVQ’s in Animal Management & Welfare. We also provided training for the Metropolitan Police, various Parks Ranger Services and Park Friends Groups and undertook exchange placement days for veterinary nurses working for charities such as the Blue Cross and RSPCA as well as in private practise.
We featured regularly on national TV, including our own 6 part series on ITV (London Region) as well as on the BBC’s Animal Hospital and Animal 24/7 programmes. We received frequent coverage in both national and local newspapers, including our monthly Wildlife Watch series. We also undertook regular school visits and gave presentations and talks at a wide variety of venues, ranging from the London Wetlands Centre to local Townswomens Guilds and Rotary Clubs.
In addition to our HQ Animal Care facility in South London, we also ran a satellite wildlife centre in Ealing (West London) for 5 years as well as a Nature Study Centre on the outskirts of Central London, where we provided Foundation and KS1&2 curriculum based learning for hundreds of inner London school children, teaching them all about lifecycles, habitats and the wonders of the natural world.
