HERE'S THE PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW (LAID OUT TO BE AS QUICK AND EASY AS POSSIBLE)....

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VET PRACTICE [TRANSPORT SUPPORT PROCEDURE]

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Once you have confirmed with the Wildlife Rescue that they can take the animal...

 

HERE'S THE PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW....

 

• INFO FOR YOUR VET PRACTICE:

 

Contacting your Volunteer Drivers… [Please ensure that you have already spoken to the Rescue and secured spaces for the animals.]

 

- Message when you need transport support. Try and ALWAYS include a starting and ending postcode - eg. "Picking up from us at XYZ and taking to X Rescue at ABC" - as it helps Drivers to quickly understand how long a journey might be and it raises 'yes, I can help' rates a lot.

- Tag the Drivers, asking if anyone is free.  [Eg. "@___ @___ @___ is anyone free to help please?"]. The reason for this is because spring/summer are very busy and sometimes so many teams are pinging away that Drivers will start to ignore the messages that are coming through but if they see that they've been personally tagged in a transport request, they know that it's a message they should definitely respond to, at least saying whether they can help or not.

- Once a Driver has offered to help, provide them with the necessary info (outlined below).

- I always ask the Drivers to message in the WhatsApp group as to when they have picked up the animal and when they are home safe. [They should message in the group because I will be in the group too, so I can be a back up to have an eye on everyone’s safety, while they’re on the road.]

- Thank them.

 

Info to give the Driver…

 

The address of your Vet Practice (just in case they haven’t picked up from you before) AND info on the animal(s) they’re picking up AND address of the Rescue they're dropping of to (in case they haven't been there before).  

 

Please make sure that you have ALL paperwork on the background of the animals, where they were found/when etc and all medical treatments and medications, ready for the Driver to take with the animals, to pass on to the Rescue.  Use the 'Wildlife Transport Form' template...

 

• Finder name, Address & phone Number (or just the area, if you’ve not been given permission to pass that info on)…

• When/where found…

• Any Injuries/illnesses…

• Any treatments/medications (what dosages)…

• Any food/water they may have consumed...

 

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The Pick Up & Carriers...

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Our UKWT Drivers all BUY their OWN kit: from their own personal funds, which can come to over £70.  They purchase a large carrier, a small carrier, disinfectants & a hot water bottle too, plus lots of towels (if they don't already have lots at home).  The 2 carrier sizes suit the vast majority of wildlife casualties & orphans.  [The kindness of Drivers to fund their kit themselves, means that you get a FREE SERVICE, instead of being charged per transport or asked to pay a monthly subscription].

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HOWEVER...  It has become very common for Vet Practices to ask us to pick up multiple animals, all at once, all requiring different containers.  This is fine, and honestly, it's just brilliant that you're helping all these important wild lives BUT you, as the Vet Practice, need to make sure that you have the extra suitable carriers needed to supplement the extra animals for the Driver, even if you're only lending them and the Driver brings them back within a few days: we do NOT use cardboard boxes, as impact injuries can occur very often in cardboard boxes, during a transport AND we strap the carriers in with seatbelts, which will tighten and crush the animal inside a cardboard box if there was a collision.  It is also much easier for an animal to ESCAPE from a cardboard box.

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If you DON'T have the extra carriers to hand, we will need to leave some animals behind and other Drivers can pick them up later the same day or the next day.

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If it's a case of a larger animal (an adult Fox or Badger, or waterfowl like a Swan or a Canada Goose, or a large bird of prey like a Buzzard)...  We will need to either borrow a larger, suitable carrier from yourselves for the transport OR delay the transport - at least until the next day - to pick up a carrier from the Rescue we're taking to, to use for the animal.  The reason for this is that we are very rarely asked to transport wildlife casualties of this size and a large/sturdy enough carrier to hold an adult fox or badger can be £100s.  UKWT cannot justify requiring UKWT Drivers to spend not just £70 on kit but up to £300 on kit, to have a 3rd, extra large carrier, that most Drivers will never be asked to use.  [The Drivers will bring all of the extra towels needed].

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During the pick up...  If we are using extra carriers from your Practice to transport animals in - and this couldn't be more important - MAKE SURE THE LID IS CLOSED & VERY SECURE.  There must be NO CHANCE OF ESCAPE FROM THE CARRIER.  Take a minute to consider what escape of an animal from a carrier into a vehicle means, as a worst case scenario: it means the animal potentially crawling under the pedal of the vehicle while it is on a motorway, which could lead to a crash that could endanger the lives of the Driver, multiple other humans AND of course all of the animals in the car too.  Just because a lid wasn't made secure.

 

Looking after the Volunteer Drivers…

 

I ask all Drivers to message in the WhatsApp group so that I know when they've picked up, have dropped off and when they're home safe.

 

When they've completed the transport...  Thank them, if you can.  All of the UKWT Drivers have spent their own funds on equipment, tools, hot water bottles and often they choose to cover their own fuel.  All of this is often around full time jobs.  The least we can do is appreciate them.  We're all in this together.   [I will be in the group to also thank them AND remind them to hot wash their towels and disinfect their carrier(s) etc.]