What's the common ground that we all have in common? We want our wildlife to get the care they deserve...
This is a bit of a long post but I think its really important, so read it if you can :-)
What do we all have in common? We want to stand up for and save our UK wildlife (rehabbing & releasing, to fight another day)…
I wanted to write this post after some calls over the last few months. I hope that it might help to explain the WCB very simply, to eliminate some misconceptions :-)
Since the WCB launched I have started getting calls from concerned Rehabbers about other Rescues (or even Vet Practices) that they believed were doing a lot more harm than good and inflicting unnecessary suffering on wildlife due to a range of reasons: lack of knowledge, negligence or just rushing ahead without being ready to really know how to help the wild lives that turn up on their doorsteps.
Unfortunately, we can do nothing in these cases: we are not the RSPCA nor any kind of authoritative body with the legal power to stop bad practices and remove animals from a property or person. Even the RSPCA struggles immensely when they receive a report (they too have very limited powers) and most of the reports that they receive lack the evidence (in my experience) for them to be able to have much impact. In most cases, Rescues/Rehabbers who might be well intentioned (but who lack knowledge and a suitable premises and who don’t work with a Vet) can carry on for years, taking in 100s of animals and causing immense suffering, unhindered.
That was why the WCB was established: we are hoping to be - and can be, if the WCB is a success - a preventative solution.
If the WCB succeeds in its goals, then members of the public will be newly aware that Wildlife Rescue is mostly unregulated (atm, almost no one realises that) and then that will lead - hopefully - to them looking for local Wildlife Rescues who have proven their high standards of care in advance.
If this starts to happen (and at the moment, proving these standards of care is only possible through the WCB) then wildlife could soon ONLY be taken to Rescues who can provide proper care.
The result? There will be NO NEED to invest time and effort (often without reward) into trying to get Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers (who lack knowledge or good practices) shut down as no one will be taking them wildlife casualties in the first place: members of the public will know to actively avoid anyone who has not proven their standards, in order to make sure that they do their best by the wildlife casualty that they have found.
That is how the WCB can stand up for the rights of our wildlife.
I’d like to address some common concerns that I hear about the WCB (as we are only just getting started, they are totally understandable)…
It’s interesting but one of the immediate concerns that a Rescue/Rehabber has about the WCB (when they first hear about it) is that they are… A. Far too busy to get the badge and B. Why should they prove themselves, when they believe themselves to already be of a good standard?
Here are my answers, if these are some of your concerns…
If you are worried that you’re far too busy to get the badge (and that it will be just another drain on an already exhausting schedule)….
1. It takes only a few hours to get the WCB and 5 mins every 2 months to keep it.
2. Compare this to…. Most Rehabbers/Rescues can spend hours (amounting to days) or even sleepless nights worrying and chatting about other local Rescues whom they believe to be doing a lot more harm than good, to local wildlife casualties. They can spend days trying to get them shut down by the RSPCA or sending the Rehabber Facebook messages or commenting on their pages and posts, trying to get them to stop taking in wildlife casualties. Often, this never works and only increases rivalry and even less transparency within the local area.
3. If you are one of these Rehabbers (if you are doing a brilliant job and you want to also protect wildlife in your area by getting ‘bad Rehabbers’ shut down) the ONLY way to make a permanent change to stop anyone with bad practices operating is by getting the WCB (being the example) and so being someone in your area that has proven your standards of care, that the public can learn to look for…. If, in your local area, everyone who runs a great Rescue gets the WCB (and you all share info with your local public on why you have it and what it means, versus those who are avoiding any scrutiny because they might have lesser practices) you could succeed in getting all wildlife casualties delivered to you, instead of to these other Rehabbers, effectively shutting them down. There is literally NO other way to stop Rescues with bad practices at the moment. It was why the WCB has been developed by so many Rescues and Vets, working together: like you, they have tried to get Rehabbers (who do more harm than good) shut down, and failed. The WCB has been launched to be the solution, if enough people believe in it.
That leads me onto the next concern. Why should you get the badge, why should you ‘have’ to prove yourself?
You don’t. This isn’t about proving yourself. If you are of a great standard then brilliant, set an example to others and BE the example of good practice in your local area, for animals to be brought to you (and not to someone less able than you). By getting the badge, you are playing a significant role in…. A. Standing up for welfare standards within the UK Wildlife Rescue Industry. B. Setting an example of being transparent and accountable (so that this becomes the norm: when it becomes normal to be transparent, those with great knowledge and a great set up will be recognised and celebrated and those with bad practices will NOT be able to operate because they will have been exposed and no one will take animals to them). [How will they have been exposed? It will - if the WCB succeeds - become strange NOT to have the badge and so suspicious if you don’t have it, to show on your websites/social media: it means that those who can’t meet the minimum standards of knowledge/premises that the badge requires - they are unable to pass the KA or the Vet Check - become suspicious in the minds of members of the public and so they avoid taking animals to them.]
So, finally, if you look at the ‘map example’ attached to this post, this is how I hope the WCB will stand up for the rights of our wildlife to proper care (not ‘I’ve done my best, at least I had a go’ care)…. I hope that, soon, there will be a WCB map, like the example map below, that features Wildlife Rescues and Rehabbers nationwide who have all got the badge (who are all setting an example by being open and honest about their good practices - celebrating them - and showing what good practices look like) and so members of the public can then use our map to know whom they can safely take a wildlife casualty to, in their local area.
Right now, by using any of the wildlife databases (as brilliant as they are, in lots of ways) to decide where to take a wildlife casualty to, it is a lottery for a wildlife casualty whether they are taken to someone who knows how to help them or someone who thinks of themselves as a Rehabber but who really doesn’t know what they are doing. No animal (powerless and poorly) should be handed to a human being who has not trained themselves and got themselves set up to a good enough standard to be able to treat the animal properly.
In the Wildlife Rescue Industry it is often suggested that ‘having a go’ or ‘doing our best’ is enough. It isn’t.
Just imagine (and I am sure that you have probably used this analogy yourself)…. You or your child are in hospital, poorly. You are vulnerable and you need expert help. It would not be ok for a ‘Doctor in name only’ - with no training - to try and treat you and actually cause you a lot more suffering, or harm you badly, or even kill you.
Similarly, would you take your beloved Pet to a ‘Vet in name only’ who ‘really cares’ and ‘just wants to help’ but who hasn’t put in the time and effort to train themselves up to a recognised standard? How would you feel if they killed your Pet or disabled them or caused them pain and fear, simply because they had decided to ‘have a go’ without thinking that they needed to know what they were doing first?
It is not ok that this is happening to our wildlife. It would not be ok if it was happening in just a few random cases and it is absolutely terrible that it is in fact happening regularly and commonly, across the whole of the UK. Our wildlife deserve a lot better…