- AUGUST 2020... UKWT was launched. The concept was simple... Up to 3 out of every 10 wildlife casualties found in the UK were potentially passing away purely because they couldn't be transported to Rescues/Vet Practices quickly enough/at all... The UKWT recruited a network of UK Volunteer Transport Drivers and set up a phone line to take calls from members of the public, Wildlife Rescues & Vet Practices, and we started coordinating transport pick ups so that wildlife who were stuck could be transported immediately to medical or rehabilitative care.
- DECEMBER 2020... After realising the full extent of the lack of regulation of Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers in the UK, we upgraded our welfare protocol and began to be extremely careful who we transported wildlife to. Our transport welfare requirements not only ensured that wildlife casualties/orphans were transported in the most high welfare of conditions - transporting the animal in a specifically suitable, secure, covered carrier, in silence and with no interaction & absolutely no photographs taken of the animal - but we also ensured that we never passed an animal to a Rescue that hadn't had a Vet assess their premises & practices.
During August 2020 to June 2022, we transported almost 600 wildlife casualties/orphans to emergency medical/rehabilitative care and we advised & secured Rescue spaces for another 2000 more (these 2000 were able to be transported by the members of the public who had found them). We supported Vet Practices & Wildlife Rescues & members of the public during this time. Check out our TESTIMONIALS.
- JANUARY 2021... Still aware of the lack of regulation across any of the UK Wildlife Rescue Industry (this lack of regulation meant that anyone could set up as a 'Rescue' with no training, no legal medications, no suitable premises and no idea of what they were doing) and because I had been working with Vet Practices & Rescues across the UK for 4 months by this point, myself and a number of Wildlife Rehabbers & Vet Professionals united to see if the 'Wildlife Care Badge' could introduce a form of self regulation across the UK Wildlife Rescue Industry, so that wildlife could start to always get to the level of medical & rehabilitative care that would give them a proper chance at a new wild life.
- FEBRUARY 2022... The Wildlife Care Badge launched, at the Secret World Wildlife Conference. For the first time in the UK, a MAP started to be available that featured Wildlife Rescues of a proven standard, that wildlife could safely be passed to for proper treatment and, hopefully, a second chance.
- JUNE 2022... Demand for UKWT services had grown so much that our phone line was ringing off the hook and we lacked the sufficient Admin Volunteer support to cope with the demand. Rescues, Practices & members of the public were waiting hours just to get through to us... I realised that there was a better way for us to run, that would operate more efficiently: I took the phone line down - so that we were no longer coordinating calls - and instead started allocating teams of our UKWT Drivers to Vet Practices & Rescues, so that they could have immediate access to our Drivers (Drivers that we had recruited, equipped and were funding) instead of having to wait for us to answer their call. Members of the public could then ask Rescues & Practices direct for transport help, instead of having to go through us.
- DECEMBER 2022... UKWT couldn't keep up with the demand for our services, even with our new, more efficient system. Running on Admin Volunteer support alone, we found ourselves unable to meet even half of the demand for our services that we were facing.
- MAY 2023... After trying to recruit more Admin Volunteers for 6 months (and finding it impossible to recruit & maintain even the minimum level of volunteer support that we required, to keep going) I officially and temporarily closed UKWT while we fundraised for our first wave of staff. You can find out all about our fundraiser HERE. We are looking to be ready to help over 10,000 wildlife casualties/orphans next year. Please help us if you can.
Thanks for reading, Alana