'NO WILD LIFE LEFT WITHOUT CARE'
[OUR UKWT VISION]
OUR WORK IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
WHAT GAPS ARE WE FILLING AND HOW ARE WE PLAYING OUR PART TO SERVE OUR UK WILDLIFE?
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Back in August 2020 (when we first started up)...
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Approximately 30% of wildlife casualties were being found by members of the public who couldn't drive or transport the wildlife casualty/orphan to medical care (so the animals were at risk of not getting to a Vet/Rescue in time or at all).
Most of the approximately 5000 Vet Practices in the UK had no support to transport wildlife casualties out of their practices (which were often not set up to be suitable for wildlife, even in the short term) and across to a local Wildlife Rescue.
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As a response to these situations...
We set up a nationwide network of Volunteer Wildlife Drivers. Anyone could phone our main UKWT number or find us through the UKWT Facebook group and ask for help transporting a wildlife casualty. Very quickly, our phone was ringing off the hook, 7 days a week, from both Vet Practices & members of the public. We would sort out a space for the animal at a local Rescue Centre and then send a Driver over to pick up the animal and transport it to proper care, ASAP.
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We transported almost 600 wildlife casualties/orphans to medical/ongoing care during our first almost 2 years (August 2020 to June 2022) . We also assisted approximately another 2000 members of the public to find rescue space and gave advice on how to provide high welfare conditions during transport, so that they could transport the casualty/orphan themselves, to medical/ongoing care. As demand for help exploded, I realised that we could do a lot more, if we upgraded our way of working. It's a BIG vision but - if we manage it - it means that every wildlife casualty in the UK can be caught in a safety net and hopefully delivered to their next chance...
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UKWT still stands up for the rights of every wild life to receive the same care and consideration as we humans have come to expect for ourselves - to be treated as individuals and with respect and kindness, their lives valued and fought for - when they are poorly or injured or orphaned.
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Here's how we are set up now, compared to before June 2022...
SUPPORTING VET PRACTICES
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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.’
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As a standard Vet Practice sees around 30 wildlife casualties/orphans a month during Spring/Summer (see where we got this number from, below) and we have 60 Vet Practices already asking for UKWT Transport Support now, that's 1800 wildlife casualties/orphans to transport each month, from March to October, from Vet Practices and across to local Wildlife Rescues (see how/why below)...
We expect to have grown even further - as demand grows - serving 100 Vet Practices ASAP, transporting the 3000 wildlife casualties/orphans that they will have in, every month.
By the end of 2029, we hope to be serving all 5000 Vet Practices in the UK, offering transport support for the 150,000 wildlife casualties/orphans they'll be collectively seeing every month (during the busy Spring/Summer months).
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[Of course, we will still be running during the Autumn/Winter - quieter - months, but the numbers will be a lot lower.]
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Read on, where did I get these numbers from......?
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After chatting to some Practices to get an idea of numbers, I have settled on '30' being a very approximate/average number of wildlife casualties/orphans that your ‘average’ Vet Practice may see during the busier months (approximately one a day) because...
Some Vet Practices won’t see any wildlife - either from being too small or not set up to help them - and some larger Practices will see 100s. The figure of ’30’ was settled on because that was the average number reported by some Vet Practices and they felt they were fairly standard and with some Practices not seeing any wildlife and some seeing 100s, the figure of ’30’ was a safe, conservative estimate figure, to quote, to spread across all UK Vet Practice efforts].
We know - from consulting with a number of Vet Professionals - that just by having transport support (mostly by moving wildlife casualties out of a Practice ASAP after initial triage/care, to a local Wildlife Rescue) we can save the unnecessary euthanasia of 10,000s wildlife casualties every month. (Vets won't PTS because they don't care. Often it's just because a loud and busy Practice is a terrifying place for a wildlife casualty and without an easily accessible option to move the casualty onto, sometimes Vet Professionals are under pressure to euthanase, simply to stop the animal from feeling stress/fear and suffering while on site. With the right support, Vet Professionals will go out of their way to help a wild animal…)
We are growing as quickly as we can to have 1000s of UKWT Volunteer Wildlife Drivers established as a kind of wildlife loving safety net across the UK with at least one Driver in an area always being available to pick up a casualty/orphan from a Vet Practice ASAP after assessment/treatment, to move them onto local Wildlife Rescues for their next stage of care.
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A REMINDER OF OUR GOALS
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Our goal for this year is to establish ourselves to serve a minimum of 100 Vet Practices: so playing our part to help 3000 wildlife casualties a month.
Our 5 year goal is to hopefully establish ourselves enough - with staff/volunteers and enough funds/reliable income - to support all 5000 Vet Practices in the UK, playing our part to support/save 150,000 wildlife casualties/orphans every Spring/Summer month, with at least one Driver in an area always being available to pick up a casualty/orphan from a Vet Practice ASAP after assessment/treatment, to move them onto local Wildlife Rescues for their next stage of care.
SUPPORTING WILDLIFE RESCUES
At UKWT, we know from previous experience that up to 30% of wildlife casualties/orphans get found by members of the public with no vehicle or transport support. By setting ourselves up with 1000s of UKWT Volunteer Wildlife Drivers across the UK, we are setting ourselves up to support every Wildlife Rescue (on our map) with their own UKWT Drivers Team (local Drivers, fully equipped with carriers & disinfectant and that we fully fund expenses for).
We are working very hard to make sure that Wildlife Rescues have enough UKWT Volunteer Drivers available to them to access and send out to, to pick up wildlife casualties. (No wildlife casualty/orphan left without help and without medical care).
HELPING VETS TO HELP VETS
In partnership with the Wildlife Care Badge, 'Vet Practice Wildlife Support' has been offered out at the same time as Vet Driver Teams. So far we have offered the Vet Wildlife Support Package, other Vet support and Driver Support to 1550 Vet Practices & over 65 have taken the VWSP (and are using it) as well as asking for Driver Support to help them to treat wildlife.
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[The VWSP is a collection of 'how to treat wildlife' pdf & video guides, created by wildlife specialist Vets to enable ALL Vets & Vet nurses, in ALL UK practices, to know how to offer emergency medical care to the wildlife that are handed into them.]
We are offering Vet Practices wildlife support because there is very little wildlife care training for Veterinary Professionals - as standard - so having access to these guides & other support WILL help them to save wild lives. The VWSP & other documents have been made available for FREE download, through the WCB 'Support for Vet Practices' efforts.
IMPORTANT NOTE... Ideally, whilst we ONLY want to grow to ensure that no struggling animal is left without help, when they need it, it is also very important to me that we remember that most of these wildlife casualties and orphans are suffering from avoidable incidents. The undermined health & well being of these animals could be from habitat loss and lack of food & water in their local areas, or these animals could have been hurt or orphaned because of traffic or litter or poisons within their local environments. All of these are avoidable, if we humans start living in far greater harmony with our planet. That is why I also have a complementary organisation: Wildscaping Worldwide.