UK Wildlife Transporters
We are a UK based, non-profit organisation that recruits, equips (with carriers & disinfectant) and funds fuel costs for a national network of wildlife-loving Volunteer Drivers who all give up their time (and use their own vehicles) to respond at short notice to help get injured/poorly UK wildlife to medical care (or sanctuary spaces) ASAP.
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Up to 3 out of every 10 wildlife casualties found in the UK can end up passing away purely because they couldn't be transported to Rescues/Vets/Rehabbers quickly enough/at all...
We're here to change all that....
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WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE?
A. When a Volunteer Driver has joined our database, we get them equipped with 2 carriers (one large, one small) and Defra approved disinfectant.
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B. Once our Drivers are set up with the right equipment, they are asked to look at our MAP of the Rescues that we currently support (and our Vet Map) so that they can choose which Rescues they would like to drive for. (We only allocate Drivers to those Wildlife Rescues who are either large centres or who have the Wildlife Care Badge).
C. We make a note of if the Driver would like to have more hands on training (from the Wildlife Rescues they're driving for - to become trained in capture/containment & in first aid, for example).
D. We make sure that our Drivers know the basics about welfare during transport (eg. Silence, securing the carrier with a seatbelt, no open windows, having a towel over the carrier so that the casualties can be relaxed in darkness until they reach medical help).
E. Every Rescue that we support has their own 'Drivers List' (made up of the Drivers that we recruit, equip & fund, who have chosen to drive for them) so - once the new Driver has chosen their preferred Rescue(s) - we place the Driver onto their chosen List(s) and let the Rescue(s) in question know that they have some new Drivers who would like to drive for them (those Rescues generally send out an email, making contact and getting the Drivers to agree to their own welfare practices etc). If the Driver has stated that they want more hands on training, it is included next to their name of the Driver's List, so that the Rescue is aware.
F. Once a Driver has transported a casualty, if they want fuel expenses covered, they fill in our expenses form and WE reimburse the fuel expense (not the Wildlife Rescue/Vet).
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We want to help over 10,000 wildlife casualties - during Spring/Summer 2024 - and almost 1,000,000 a year by the end of 2027.
Find out HOW you can help us to achieve this (as well as supporting wildlife in your local area).
AS WELL AS SPECIALISING IN WILDLIFE TRANSPORT, HAVING BUILT UP A NATIONAL NETWORK OF VETS/RESCUES OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS, WE AT UKWT NOW ALSO USE OUR NETWORK & RELATIONSHIPS TO FILL IN SOME OTHER 'WELFARE AND KNOWLEDGE GAPS' TO HELP OUR WILDLIFE EVEN MORE.​
HERE IS AN OVERVIEW OF ALL OF OUR WORK, ACROSS THE UK...
RECRUITING, EQUIPPING & FUNDING 100S OF VOLUNTEER DRIVERS: ALLOCATING THEM TO DRIVE FOR WILDLIFE RESCUES SO THAT EVERY WILDLIFE CASUALTY (EVEN IF IT’S FOUND BY SOMEONE WITHOUT ACCESS TO A VEHICLE) CAN BE BROUGHT IN FOR URGENT MEDICAL CARE THAT SAME DAY
(NATIONWIDE)
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Up to 3 out of every 10 wildlife casualties found in the UK can end up passing away purely because they couldn't be transported to Rescues/Vets/Rehabbers quickly enough/at all... UKWT was set up to fill this gap and covers the whole of the UK, making sure that Wildlife Rescues have enough Volunteer Drivers to send them out to pick up wildlife casualties from members of the public who have found poorly/injured wildlife but who can’t drive/don’t have access to a vehicle.
SUPPORTING VETS BY TRANSPORTING WILDLIFE CASUALTIES OUT OF THEIR PRACTICES AND ACROSS TO WILDLIFE RESCUES
(NATIONWIDE)
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It can be very difficult for busy Vets Practices to treat wildlife casualties (and not just euthanase on arrival) because the casualty will always need to be moved onto a Rescue Centre for longer term rehab afterwards. By providing Vets with their own list of local Volunteer Transport Drivers (recruited, equipped & funded by UKWT) we support Vets to treat wildlife and then move them out of the Practice site instead of thinking that their only logistical option is to ‘Put To Sleep.’
VET WILDLIFE SUPPORT PACKAGE
(NATIONWIDE)
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As we at UKWT already have a nationwide network of Vets (that we are continuing to grow) that we are setting up Drivers Lists for, it made sense to support the work of the WCB by including this package in our communications - offering it to Vets nationwide - so that Vet Practices can start to use the 'How To Guides' to save as many of the wild lives being dropped into them as possible. Read on...
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When one of UKWT's partners (the Wildlife Care Badge) was in development, it became known - through discussions - that a number of the wildlife specialist Vet Professionals who were contributing to the WCB had also created helpful 'How To Guides' to specifically support 'General Practice Vets' in Practices to treat wildlife casualties. These 'How To Guides' (pdfs and videos) have been united into the 'Vet Wildlife Support Package'.
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As only 1% of Vets leave school with any wildlife training (and each wild species requires specialist care) making the VWSP accessible/available nationwide will make a huge difference to many wild lives: it could ensure that 1000s of wildlife casualties (who are dropped into Vets Practices, by members of the public) are successfully treated instead of being euthanased due to lack of knowledge.​
