Why is the WCB so needed? How much are our UK wildlife suffering without it?
I speak to Wildlife Rehabbers & Vet Professionals across the UK (speaking to different people daily) and a few things have jumped out at me.
One is that most peoples’ knowledge and awareness of the Wildlife Rescue industry is very localised: they have an idea of what may be happening in their county or city but no real awareness of how wildlife casualties are being cared for across the UK (or even which Rescues might be operating in other parts of the UK). This is of course understandable. However, as there isn’t really a united UK community, often that prevents most Rehabbers/Vet Professionals from recognising the really wide spread issues of negligence and accidental cruelty that occur in the 1000s every week across the UK: wildlife casualties/orphans being taken in by ill prepared & ill informed ‘Rehabbers' all across the UK…
The second is that "Rescues are run by good people who are doing their best" is still considered - by some - an okay foundational mindset for someone to start taking in poorly/orphaned wildlife. These ‘good people’ often call themselves a Wildlife Rescue/Sanctuary and start taking in casualties/orphans with unsuitable premises & no knowledge of how to offer even a minimum standard of medical care (and absolutely no relationship with a Vet).
The results of these circumstances are an insane (horrific) level of suffering.
For anyone who thinks that the WCB is unnecessary and that ‘most Rescues are good’ and that ‘no one should feel criticised when they have just done their best’ (these are a couple of the most common concerned responses to the WCB having been set up) here’s how much wildlife are suffering. Remember that these wildlife casualties did NOT have to experience these atrocities, this torture (and I have chosen this word extremely carefully, after shying away from using it for a long time, because I think it should be recognised that to those creatures, it is torture: it is pain inflicted on them by humans who have taken their power and independence and who have taken on the responsibility of these animals with no accompanying sense of responsibility that they should have educated themselves before hand in order to be able to provide suitable care). These casualties could have been taken to a place with suitable housing (to limit stress & ensure well being) to be assessed correctly and to have pain relief and other treatment, to hopefully give them to chance to be rehabbed and released (within high welfare conditions) or (at worse) they would have been euthanased as their injuries were too severe. They would not have suffered for months and months (sometimes years) in pain and fear and despair.
How would you feel if any of these following examples had been inflicted on you, or a loved one, or a family pet? Remember that you would have been taken from all you’d known, from everyone you’d loved. You’d have had all bodily autonomy and independence of will taken from you. You would have been placed somewhere alien and frightening and strange. And you’re suffering (you’re injured) and now it gets worse, and - and this is what haunts me the most - you don’t know why this pain is being inflicted upon you or how to make the human doing it, stop…
These are some examples of verified cases that I know of from across the UK the last couple of years…
Hedgehogs with broken limbs that go undiagnosed that are given no pain relief and instead have manual treatments (that involve lots of handling) inflicted on them, so that their injuries get worse (not better) and so they suffer every time they are handled (and this goes on for weeks, maybe months).
I know of birds who have been taken in by various Rehabbers with very simple breaks: the breaks being mis-assessed and then set so badly that they sometimes get reset again and again (without any pain relief) until the wings end up fused in the wrong place and the birds can then only be euthanased, as the new wing positions cause extreme discomfort.
Across the UK, with different Rehabbers, I know of wildlife casualties (of multiple species) who had dislocated limbs that went unnoticed for months (sometimes years) as they were cheerfully kept in captivity as ‘they just couldn’t fly’ or ‘they just couldn’t move about very well.’ Those animals never saw a Vet, were never x-rayed, not given any kind of treatment and of course they were never given any pain relief. All those creatures could do was run around their cages or aviaries, trying to escape the hands of their captors, trying to avoid more pain at their hands and being treated as ‘feisty’ or ‘moody’ when in fact they were desperately trying to evade further suffering, in a damaged body.
I have had supposed Rehabbers admit to me that the broken bodies of birds they asked me to pick up and transport (when I was running UKWT) on to sanctuary (because they needed long term captivity, apparently) reflected injuries that the birds had inflicted on themselves in desperate bids to escape their tiny cages, where they could barely stretch their wings - cages they had been in for years, in some cases - and, when questioned, that Rehabber admitted that none of the casualties had seen a Vet when brought in and that no treatment (beyond Metacam) had been given to any of the birds. Those birds had come in with broken wings, broken legs, cat bites, damage from hawk attacks and more. (What was especially frightening about this situation was that the Rehabber in question was considered one of the ‘more experienced’ Rehabbers in that area and that she mentored others).
I know of baby birds who slowly starved to death in the care of Rehabbers because no one there had noticed that they had trauma that prevented them from reaching the food to feed themselves and so they just went without food, for days, unnoticed.
I know of supposed Wildlife Rescues where the casualties were routinely taken out and handled by children, as though they were pets, with family dogs barking up at them.
I know of multiple cases of Rehabbers taking in Hedgehogs and just pumping them full of any drugs (illegally bought, online) that sprang to mind without even attempting a proper assessment and without any medical knowledge whatsoever. Those drugs individually were harmful but the combinations (the concoctions!) of multiple drugs often caused severe side effects and suffering before the inevitable deaths of those poor animals.
I could go on and on…
It is not ok, it is not kind and it is not acceptable, that any of the above cases occurred. Moreover, it is absolutely outrageous that most of the Rehabbers referenced above are STILL active and still taking in wildlife casualties: the cases above will be happening, now, again, to more animals, as I type this. (Without enough proof, the RSPCA cannot close anyone down).
Without a demand for transparency and accountability, cases like this will still continue.
How can the WCB prevent this happening, in the future?
It’s very simple. To get the WCB, a Rescue/Rehabber must prove suitable premises, a minimum level of knowledge and a working relationship with a Vet. Moreover, they have to keep proving ongoing record keeping - proving a level of ongoing care being given - and the ongoing relationship with that Vet.
As our map of WCB Holders grows, so members of the public can start to use our map to look up Rescues/Rehabbers near them that have proved their standards by getting the WCB: if members of the public start to only take wildlife casualties/orphans to WCB Holders (and to no one who is unproved) then wildlife casualties/orphans won’t ever be at risk of being taken to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
It takes very little time to get the WCB Badge. It costs only the price of your Vet visiting your premises.
Our wildlife deserve a great deal better than a lot of them are currently experiencing. I hope very much that soon - through the WCB - we can ensure that every wildlife casualty in the UK receives only the high welfare care that they deserve (and that the horror stories above become examples of an old era, instead of terrible examples of extreme maltreatment that continue to happen today).
Alana (Co-Founder of the WCB).