Tag Archives: Wildlife hospital

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Care Staff at East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) are asking members of the public who find poorly wild birds with ticks on them to seek urgent help in order to help save the birds lives.

“Ticks on birds can be fatal if left alone” said Trevor Weeks MBE founder of WRAS, “mammals cope much better than birds which need urgent veterinary help to both remove safely the ticks but also more importantly to get the right medication in order to treat the effects of the tick bite.” » Read more

At 2.30pm on Saturday 4th September Cbeebies Television Star Sarah Jane Honeywell officially opened East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service's (WRAS) new Casualty Care Centre at Whitesmith in East Sussex.

Animal lover and children's presenter Sarah Jane Honeywell came down to Sussex and spent the afternoon at the centre, where she officially opened the centre by cutting a red bandage using bandage scissors from the centre's new First Aid and Treatment Room.

Sarah Jane was joined by members of Hellingly Brownie Pack, WRAS volunteers and supporters as well as Polegate Mayor Tim Voyce who has chosen WRAS as his charity for the year.

Sarah Jane said "I visited a few weeks ago when the work was in progress and I am amazed how it looks now and the volume of hard work which has gone into this new centre by WRAS's volunteers. I feel proud and privileged to be opening the centre."

The centre which is not normally open to visitors was crowded as supporters attended to see the opening and see what the charity has managed to achieve. "There were about 60 invited guests at the opening, and I'm delighted that someone like Sarah Jane has taken the time to visit and open the centre for us , which means a lot to me and the volunteers after all the hard work which has gone into getting the centre off the ground. Like all charities WRAS has suffered as a result of the harsh financial climate and with people worried about their jobs they are reluctant to donate, so this centre has only been possible due to the hard work put in by our volunteers saving us from having to pay contractors to carry out the work."

Newlyweds Paul and Georgina Cutler from Denton, Newhaven, were also at the opening to present WRAS with £500 which they decided to donate to WRAS instead of "favours" at their wedding on the 14th August 2010. "I was amazed when Paul and Georgina presented me with a little toy badger holding £500 in £20 notes!" Paul and Georgina used to volunteer and help undertake rescue work with WRAS.

Sarah Jane helped raise funds for WRAS by asking supporters to make a donation to WRAS in return for her signing photos for both children and adult fans alike. She also enjoyed the food and refreshments laid on by WRAS volunteers including WRAS founder Trevor Weeks' infamous homemade Butternut Squash and Ginger soup. She also presented bottles of wine and flowers to the key WRAS volunteers who helped set the centre up. WRAS founder Trevor Weeks also presented Sarah Jane with a framed set of photos of her visit to meet WRAS casualties a few weeks ago as a thank you for opening the centre.

Trevor said "I am so proud of what we have achieved and that we have such a great bunch of volunteers which help out at our centre, helping to deal with the thousands of people who call WRAS each year for help and the casualties they have found."

WRAS is now trying to raise funds for Phase Two of the Centre, which includes setting up a new CCTV system for monitoring casualties, purchasing additional cages, setting up a wet room for washing oiled birds and for swimming water birds, constructing four large animal pens and more.

Trevor said "We have never been able to deal with all the calls for help that we receive, but this centre will make it easier to help more people and casualties."

Anyone wanting to make a donation to support WRAS's new Casualty Centre can do so via our donation page or by posting donations payable to "East Sussex WRAS" to PO Box 2148, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 9DE.

» Additional photos

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, Director, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958

WRAS is delighted to annouce that after her visit to meet WRAS last week, Sarah Jane Honeywell from Cbeebies, has come on board as a new Patron for WRAS.

Sarah Jane Honeywell has worked in the entertainment industry for many years and is best known today for her work as a comedy actress, with over 30 episodes of 'Higgledy House' currently showing across the world, and kids TV presenter, with over 100 episodes of BBC's magazine show 'Tikkabilla' now being broadcast globally.

Her varied work has seen her portraying a teenage junkie at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, playing a sexy kitten in the long running West End show 'Cats', hosting several national Arena tours for BBC Worldwide and performing her own live show across the UK and in Europe.

Sarah Jane thanked WRAS for a great visit saying "It was a magical visit! I would be honoured to become your patron, wow that would be awesome."

Cbeebies star Sarah Jane will be officially opening Phase One of WRAS's new Casualty Care Centre at Whitesmith in September.

WRAS founder Trevor Weeks said "Sarah-Jane is a fantastic actor and has such a bubbly personality. She was delighted to meet some of WRAS's casualties last week especially Caramel the baby deer as well as Button and Billie last years baby deer, plus some of the many hedgehogs we have in care."

"We are privileged to have her come on board as a patron and her support means a lot to us and the casualties" said Trevor.

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, Director, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958

Cbeebies TV presenter Sarah Jane Honeywell visited East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service today in advance of WRAS's official opening and completion of Phase One of WRAS's new Casualty Care Centre at Whitesmith.

Sarah first visited some young deer rescued by WRAS on Ashdown Forest. Including "Caramel" rescue 3 weeks ago after being found concussed at Five Ash Down just north of Uckfield. Sarah was also able to meet "Button" the miracle baby deer rescued last October caught in stock fencing, who is living wild but continues to return to her home garden.

Sarah then visited WRAS's Casualty Care Centre to see how work is progressing before the official opening due to take place on 4th September 2010. Several hedgehogs were introduced to Sarah, which she had never seen close up before.

To finish her visit Sarah helped WRAS founder Trevor Weeks release a duck at Moat Pond, East Grinstead. This duck was rescued by Trevor the previous day after being found caught in line and a hook embedded in the soft tissue at the corner of the mouth. He had been treated at WRAS's Casualty Care Centre and assessed for 24 hours before being released again with Sarah's help.

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, Director, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958

Vets have confirmed that a hedgehog found at Lewes yesterday morning has been kicked and seriously injured. The hedgehog has suffered severe trauma to its mouth and nasal cavity. The upper jaw has been fractured in three places and been pushed backwards.

"I am sickened and very upset" said Trevor Weeks, "Over the years I have hardened emotionally but now and then you get cases which are upsetting and sickening, this is one of them. I find cruelty very hard to come to terms with. I don’t get upset easily but this is sick and disgusting. Whoever has done this is a seriously shallow person and one who needs to be named and shamed."

WRAS is urging anyone who sees hedgehogs or other animals being kicked or ill treated to report them to the police straight away.

Hedgehogs are thought to be on the decline across the UK and these incidents do not help. "What have these little helpless creatures done to deserve this cruelty? I will be contacting Sussex Police to log this incident with them like the incident recently at Uckfield last week, as well as contacting the local schools and colleges to advise them of the situation and ask for their help in stamping out this abuse" said Trevor.

Henley House Vets in Uckfield today had to put the hedgehog to sleep as the damage to the upper jaw was too severe to repair. Advise was taken from St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire to ensure no other option was open to us.

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, Director, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958

WRAS’s current Casualty Care Unit is a single room about 6 metres by 4 metres in size and can accommodate up to 27 casualties. This all too frequently is full or the larger cages suitable for Badgers and Foxes are full restricting when can be accommodated. WRAS is now looking at expanding into a new unit within the same building as the current unit at Whitesmith which is approximately 5-6 times the size.

6pm Sunday evening WRAS rescuer Murrae Hume was sitting in a house in Greenway, Eastbourne, waiting for an injured badger which was a regular visitor to a garden. The badger turned out to be a young girl and had damage to one of her front legs and territorial fighting wound above her tail. She was taken to the out of hours vets at Bexhill for treatment and is now in WRAS’s Casualty Care Centre. She has been named “Oreo” as this months casualty name theme is “Biscuits”.

The second badger was reported at 8am on Monday morning reported as being a possible dog attack in Northium Road, Eastbourne. WRAS rescuer Tony Neads rushed to the scene and was able to catch the badger which was curled up under a hedge. The young boy badger had one of his eared ripped off and a territorial bite wound above his tail again. He was taken to Henley House Vets in Uckfield where he had to be sedated and his wounds cleaned up and his ear and nose checked. He was then transported to WRAS’s Casualty Care Centre.

The third badger was reported on the A22 Hailsham By-pass at about 12noon Monday, fairly close to 3 already dead badgers road casualty, just north of Hempstead Lane. Trevor Weeks and David Breden attend in WRAS’s ambulance but unfortunately this one died just after WRAS’s ambulance arrived. It is thought that this badger may have been hit much earlier in the morning and been lying as if dead but a cyclist stopped and check the badger to find it was still alive.

The fourth badger was at 10.30pm on Monday night. Sussex Police called WRAS after receiving a call from a house-bound resident in Southcliff on Eastbourne Seafront. The badger had spent over an hour running round a small basement garden area which was surrounded by low walls. WRAS rescuer Trevor Weeks and Kathy Martyn attended in WRAS Ambulance and met rescuer Monica and Brian Russell on site. The badger was small and a little boy with bites to his ear and a territorial bite mark above his tail again, his wounds were treated at WRAS’s Casualty Care Centre and will be seen by a vet today (Tuesday). Volunteers eventually returned home about at almost 1am.

It is certainly unusual for us to rescue and have in so many badgers at one time. We have had to move casualties out and make space to accommodate these casualties” said Trevor Weeks.

WRAS is currently looking to expand its Casualty Care Centre at Whitesmith and is taking on a site which is 5-6 times bigger than it current centre. “This new centre will really help and allow us to have more casualties in care plus provide better facilities for them too. We are currently limited to 3 badgers and foxes at any one time, in our new facility we hope this will be more than double.”

WRAS is hoping to move into its new facilities within the next 2 months. “There is a lot of cleaning and decorating which needs doing, there is flooring, electrical work, plumbing, internal partition walls, new doors, lighting, new kitchen units and sinks and loads more which need purchasing and installing before we can fully move in and starting to expand. We will have to take it slowly expanding and raise the funds for the new items bit by bit but we are hoping we can gradually expand over the next couple of years and will cost over £40,000 to equip the new hospital completely, but we are still working on the full costings” said Trevor.

Anyone interested in helping by purchasing items for use in the new hospital are being asked to contact WRAS Project Manager David Breden on 07847-010451 or to email Trevor Weeks. Donations to WRAS can also be made online.

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Press Contacts: Trevor Weeks, Director, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958
David Breden, Project Manager, East Sussex WRAS, 07847 010451

Volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) rushed to the aid of an injured badger at Seddlecombe near Battle yesterday (Tuesday 2nd March).

About 1.45pm owners of a small stables just south of Seddlescombe contacted WRAS after finding a badger with its rear right leg entangled in electric fencing. The power supply was switched off and the badger covered until rescuers arrived on site to help.

Rescuers Trevor Weeks, Kathyn Martyn and David Breden got straight to work to save the badger who was obviously in a lot of discomfort and pain. Carefully the badger was manoeuvred into a badger cage with its leg hanging out the entrance so that rescuers could safely cut away the strands of electric without the badger turning round and biting them. Medic Trevor Weeks used a special hooked scalpel to cut away at the two main strands which were tightly wrapped round the leg forming a ligature wound.

"The foot was very badly swollen and it was clear the circulation was likely to be compromised. After discussion with our on-call vet, emergency medication was given to help comfort the badger and stop him from going into shock. Due to the tightness of the ligature and potential damage caused to the leg rescuers rushed him up to specialist vets at St Tiggywinkles in Buckinghamshire for immediate treatment and assessment.

"Many people find badgers, foxes, deer and more caught in fencing, rope swings, netting and electric fencing and their first thought is to cut it free and set it loose again. This can prove fatal for some animals especially the ones which have been caught for long periods of time. On this occasion they followed our advice and left the badger caught up till be arrived and were able to cut him free in a secure and controlled manner and be ready to respond to any sudden change in the badger condition as a result of the toxins returned into the body" said Trevor Weeks.

The badger is now at St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire which is the largest wildlife hospital in Europe.

WRAS is urging landowners that have electric fencing which is not in use to remove it and store it away somewhere safe where animals can not become entangled.

WRAS is a completely voluntary organisation and relies on donations to help pay for its rescue work.

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958