THE WCB IS A PERFECT 'MINIMUM STANDARD' START TO SELF REGULATION
WHO ARE THE EXPERTS BEHIND THE WCB?
The WCB launched in Feb. 2022 & was developed over a YEAR of seemingly endless Zoom meetings, by Wildlife Rescues & Rehabbers (from tiny one man/woman set ups to large centres) as well as Vets (both wildlife specific & general practice) & Vet Nurses.
It was developed BY Wildlife Professionals FOR Wildlife Professionals.
Check out the CORE DEVELOPMENT TEAM who attended most of the WCB Development meetings.
AS A RESULT, EVERYTHING ASKED FOR AS MINIMUM PROOF OF WELFARE STANDARDS (FOR RESCUES/REHABBERS TO ACHIEVE THE WCB) HAS BEEN DECIDED BY WILDLIFE PROFESSIONALS THEMSELVES (FROM EVERY BACKGROUND & SET UP) TO BE EASILY ACHIEVABLE.
WHAT EXPERT WILDLIFE CARE STANDARDS HAVE THE BADGES BEEN BASED ON?
The WCB has been drafted - and is based on - already recognised standards from the RSPCA, BWRC, BVZS and the BSAVA that Wildlife Rehabbers (even lone Rehabbers, working out of their homes) should ALL be already meeting as a minimum standard of care.
THERE ARE TWO WCB BADGES (THE REHAB, RELEASE & TRANSIT BADGE & THE LONG TERM CARE BADGE).
YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT THEM BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW. [THE LTC BADGE IS STILL AT THE VERY LAST STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT (AND YET TO BE LAUNCHED)]
HOW DOES A WILDLIFE RESCUE/REHABBER BECOME A WCB HOLDER?​
Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers are asked for just 3 things, to get the badge: proof of knowledge on the species they take in, proof of a suitable premises & proof of continual, high welfare care. It takes a matter of a few hours to become a WCB Holder and about 5 minutes every quarter to stay a WCB Holder. We don't charge anything to become a WCB Holder (although you do pay for your own veterinary visit, if your Vet Practice chooses to charge you for it). WCB Holders are actually supported - financially & otherwise - in a number of ways: BENEFITS.
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WHY DO WE ASK FOR THESE THINGS?
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The WCB is not asking for this proof because there are doubts that WCB applicants are professional, knowledgeable, working with a great Vet and well set up and clean and totally brilliant: the WCB is asking for proof because somewhere (perhaps lots of somewheres) there are Rescues/Rehabbers that aren’t.
This is about taking everything personal out of wildlife rescue and shining the spotlight 100% on the rights and well being of wildlife casualties and that can ONLY happen with full transparency and accountability, across the board.
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The hope is then that members of the public can be made aware of the WCB accreditation and start to use our MAP in order to make sure that they only take wildlife casualties to high welfare spaces and to knowledgeable, experienced people. (Wildlife casualties can therefore, we hope, be prevented from being taken to well intentioned but ill informed and unsuitably established Rehabbers - often untrained and inexperienced, most of the time not really working with a Vet - who can accidentally do a lot more harm than good to the wildlife casualties in their care).
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[If you are a Wildlife Rescue/Rehabber reading this: I expect that you're probably amazing. What the WCB is asking for is that you set an example for everyone else - who perhaps isn’t as great, currently - that you have been happy to prove your level of care (for the sake of wildlife welfare, nationwide) so there’s no reason for others not to do the same.]
STEP ONE: APPLY TO BE A WCB HOLDER
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A​ Wildlife Rescue/Rehabber becomes a WCB Holder by filling in this FORM. This makes sure that you're in the WCB database. The next step is signing up for your KA (with any 'unsupervised' staff/volunteers who might need to do it too, see below)...
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STEP TWO: KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENTS
RR&T Badge Holders prove your knowledge & experience by sitting either a 1hr or 90mins (depending on how many species you rehab) online quiz.
The Wildlife Care Badge (WCB) Knowledge Assessments cover some vital points that all rehabilitators should know to ensure that you are acting both within the law and with the animals’ best interests in mind.
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Any 'UNSUPERVISED STAFF/VOLUNTEERS' need to take the KA (so that it can be proven that there is the same high level of knowledge across the whole Rescue) and you can see what 'Supervised/Unsupervised' means HERE.
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The KAs can be held on Zoom or via another video service, like Facebook Video Call. They can be done by signing up for one of the GROUP EXAMS or by using the same FORM to request either your own one-to-one KA or to ask to book in a time that is just for your Rescue staff/volunteers to do your own separate KA, away from other Rescues/Rehabbers.
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[WE GET A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK THAT THE KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT IS NEVER AS SCARY AS EXPECTED (IT'S REALLY ALL VERY BASIC, PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. YOU DON'T ONLY GET ONE GO AT PASSING (ALTHOUGH YOU DO GET SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT QUESTIONS ON EACH GO). IT'S ALSO 100% CONFIDENTIAL... REHABBERS GET 3 GOES AT THE KA, THEN THEY MUST WAIT 3 MONTHS TO TAKE IT A 4TH TIME, ANOTHER 3 MONTHS TO TAKE IT A 5TH TIME AND THEN, SHOULD THEY STILL BE STRUGGLING, THEY WOULD BE ASKED TO WAIT 6 MONTHS - AND GIVEN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COURSES, TRAINING & RESEARCH TO HELP THEM TO IMPROVE THEIR KNOWLEDGE BASE - UNTIL THEY APPLY TO TAKE IT AGAIN.
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AS THE WCB IS ABOUT SUPPORTING EVERYONE UP TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD, IF A REHABBER IS AT ALL WORRIED ABOUT PASSING THE KA, THEY CAN ASK TO BE MENTORED BY ONE OF OUR CURRENT WCB HOLDERS, TO HELP THEM GAIN THE CONFIDENCE & KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY NEED TO PASS THE KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT.]
STEP THREE: VETERINARY VISIT
You invite either your Vet Surgeon OR a Vet Nurse who works alongside your Vet to come and visit/check your premises. (If you are a new Rescue/Rehabber and are looking to build a relationship with a new Vet Practice, to get started, check out this ADVICE on reaching out and building a relationship with your local Vet Practice). A Vet Surgeon or RVN either visits the Rescue/Rehabber premises in person or does a video call where they are walked around the premises.
The Vet/RVN will have been given in advance - by you, from us, that will be sent to you when you pass your KA - a Vet Checklist Report (created by one of the top Wildlife Vets in the country) and a pdf list, also created by Wildlife Vet Professionals, of so called 'Red Flags' to look out for. Every Vet/RVN will therefore have the tools/info that they need to know what to look for in a premises and what important questions to ask and then they email their report directly to the WCB team.
If a Wildlife Rescue is set up as a 'hub' (outsourcing wildlife casualties to Rehabbers/Fosterers/Carers off site, as well as having a central base) then... As well as the Vet visiting your main base - that might just be your home - you will also need to get dated photos (proving the date they were taken) from your Rehabbers/Fosterers/Carers of their premises, in as much detail as possible, to be sent to you in advance, for you to either... 1. Show your Vet/RVN when they visit you in person or 2. Email to your Vet/RVN for them to see, either immediately before or after their Vet Video Visit.​​
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STAYING A WCB HOLDER: ONGOING ACCOUNTABILITY
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When a Rescue/Rehabber becomes a WCB Holder, we just require ongoing accountability. [We get a lot of feedback from WCB Holders that this structure has helped them to stay more organised, make them less likely to go over capacity & feel a lot more supported]...
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This requirement has 2 goals and should take around 5 minutes every 3 months - every quarter - to achieve: 1. To ensure the very best care of our UK wildlife casualties. 2. To build badly needed transparency and trust between our UK Wildlife Rescuers & Rehabbers.
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[Q. Why is it being asked for and why is it so essential? A. It is essential because almost everyone can START well but then fail to MAINTAIN high welfare practices over time. Almost anyone can make one big effort to have a clean, orderly premises for their Vet visit and they can start off as a Badge Holder who takes wildlife casualties to their Vets whenever needed too. They can even have the best of intentions with regards to keeping records, in the excitement of applying for and receiving the WCB. The hard part is maintaining high standards, especially when it’s very busy (this is when a Rescue/Rehabber can start to fall behind on keeping records or can even start to avoid the cost of taking casualties to their Vets, both for assessment and to be given the right, legal medication, because the fundraising for Vets bills feels too difficult). And when Rescues/Rehabbers start to neglect these practices (that are essential in offering high welfare care) of course they are aware that they are letting the animals down and so they claim that they are a Rescue/Rehabber who of course keeps excellent records - and perhaps they even claim to be a Rescue/Rehabber who works side by side with their Vets in all matters - but at the end of the day, as no one is asking for proof of high, continual conditions, it's the wildlife casualties who suffer.]
The quarterly accountability will only require documents that you already have.
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WCB Holders have a quick one to one 5 minute zoom call every 3 months (every quarter) to show the following...
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A. Proof of keeping admission records for the last 3 months (nothing complicated, just what’s come in and why AND we ask you to blank out/remove any GDPR sensitive material, like names, addresses, donations etc).
B. Proof of working with a Vets over the last 3 months. Eg. Showing either.... Vet bill / Consult notes / Signed letter from Vets etc... [Now, if you are are Hedgehog Rescue, for instance, and you don't need to see your Vet over the quiet months, all we need is a quick sentence from your Vet - that all Vets so far seem very happy to provide, as there is a lot of Vet support, for the WCB - letting us know that they are still happy and confident in your working relationship.]
C. Notes for 1 of your cases - Admission info, treatment plan for that animal and outcome. (Just to show that info is being kept about the casualties, eg. weights & dosages for medications etc).​​
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ANNUAL BADGE RENEWAL
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Renewing the WCB Badge each year is very simple. If you have any new 'unsupervised' staff/volunteers then they need to pass the KA. Apart from that, you just have the same Veterinary Visit of your premises. The only extra requirement is proof of an extra 15 hours of CPD learning the year before (mirroring the professional requirements of Vet Professionals having to provide proof of keeping on top of current research and procedures). These can be online/in person courses, reading research papers or attending online/in person conferences.