We are just one planetary community & we all deserve to thrive. This premise is what the WCB is based on...
[This 'overview' is from me, Alana, and my personal experiences. It builds on my very first ‘outsiders overview’ presentation on the Wildlife Rescue Industry for the SWWR conference in 2022. (It's everything more that I have noticed, since interacting with even more Wildlife Rescuers & Vet Practices, through the WCB, over the last few years). I'd love to know your thoughts & your experiences too.]
I originally became keen - when reaching out to Wildlife Rehabbers & Vet Professionals - to see if we could set up a self regulatory effort like the WCB because, in running UK Wildlife Transporters, I wanted to be the most honestly empowered to know how best I could help any poorly/injured creature that came my way (where I could transport wildlife to, to receive a fair go at a second chance).
I wanted to be in a position to provide a helping human hand, as and when needed, in the most responsible way possible.
I think that the WCB has eventually been founded - as it was developed by a lot of different people, all working together - because lots of other wildlife professionals & carers felt this same way & would perhaps like a safer, kinder industry to work in, where Rescuers are better able to collaborate with Vet Practices & other Rehabbers alike, for the benefit of everyone (wildlife too)...
[This blog post is best viewed on either a desktop/laptop or a tablet: the images below may come out too small for a phone screen.]
There's 5 main challenges I think, that could sum up a lot of the experiences within the Wildlife Rescue Industry, and they all lead on from one another...
It starts with a 'Lack Of Structure' & 'No Standardised Approach' which then causes 'Human To Human Conflict' & 'High Pressure / High Stress / High Emotion' within the industry, possibly culminating in a self perpetuating 'Lack Of Collaboration'. Finally, I think that there's a 6th consideration that impacts the whole industry, and that is how Veterinary/Rescuer working relationships cope under the strain of a lack of a national structure/regulation. I have gone through all of these topics below. Hopefully the infographs are fairly easy to follow...
To provide more detail on the list of ways that the WCB hopes to help (above)...
[All of our efforts are - at their core - about striking a balance between the well being of Wildlife Rescuers & wildlife themselves, to ensure that those who rehab/treat wildlife are as supported as possible in their efforts and to also equally ensure that wildlife casualties/orphans across the UK always get the medical and rehabilitative care that they deserve.
This entails, in part... Enabling Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers to have strong working relationships with Vets. Enabling Vet Practices to grow their wildlife knowledge and adapt their practices to offer reliable medical care to the wildlife that THEY take in. Supporting both industry sections with Compassion Fatigue & other practical support.]
WCB Map - At the heart of our WCB efforts is the developing of a UK Wildlife Rescuers Map that features proven Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers who can confidently offer knowledgeable, high welfare rehabilitative care to wildlife casualties & orphans. This is so that members of the public, Vet Professionals and even other Wildlife Rehabbers can know who they can confidently pass poorly/orphaned wildlife to, across the UK, for high welfare care.
'Vet Wildlife Support Network' - A group for Vet Professionals to self create a formal, friendly national/regional network(s) so that the more wildlife experienced Vet Professionals in the network can be accessible and available to offer advice (either urgent or general) to those who would benefit from support, when wildlife casualties are dropped into Practices.
'Wildlife Professionals United' - A group uniting Vet Professionals and Rehabbers to see if there are any logistical templates that can be set up to help Vet Practices and their local Wildlife Rescues work better together, to help wildlife.
Compassion Fatigue Support Sessions - A safe space to let all the stress go.
WCB Webinars - These webinars are free to WCB Holders AND non holders alike and are run to help share the different areas & levels of expertise that are available throughout the industry, especially providing support for new Rehabbers.
Vet Wildlife Support Package - A collection of 'How To Guides' (by Veterinary Professionals) to enable Vet Practices to treat poorly & injured wildlife who are dropped into them.
OUR BRAND NEW IDEAS/OPPORTUNITIES...
WCB Revision Support - This is a new idea to support those Wildlife Rehabbers who want to become a WCB Holder but who are nervous of the Knowledge Assessments. I ran a very informal revision session with a Rehabber where we just sat on zoom and I asked them questions about birds from the 'BSAVA Manual', Les Stocker's 'Practical Wildlife Care' and Secret World's 'An Introduction To Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation & Release', that I had open on the desk in front of me. It helped to flag up areas of strength and weakness and the Rehabber felt a lot more confident by the end. I then asked a Vet Nurse how she revised for her exams and she told me about the multiple choice revision options that were available - here's some examples - so I am looking at creating lots of multiple choice question revision blog posts (made up from info in the aforementioned books) so that Rehabbers can use them to revise and get used to going through multiple choice questions on the care of their species, which is what the WCB KA entails. [More on this soon and please get in touch with any thoughts/advice.]
Wildlife Carers Journal - The point of this online ‘Wildlife Care Journal’ is purely to create a universal, public & shared platform for UK Wildlife Rescuers / Rehabilitators to specifically publish case studies, that they have found unusual and/or interesting, to play a part in growing general knowledge and experience within the Wildlife Rescue community and to also take advantage of a space that recognises Wildlife Rehabbers for the emergency care professionals that you are. [More on this soon: a page will soon be up on the website with all of the relevant info, so that you can share your feedback on the idea.]
Wild Affinity Network - This is a new (and recently announced) idea to bring together research and practice towards improved wellbeing for all within wildlife care... It involves the launch of a new hub to unite Wildlife Rehabbers and Researchers, to enable improved wellbeing for all within wildlife care.
WCB Grants for WCB Holders - This is an idea that has been running through my mind for a long time and I have decided to give it a go (a trial run, for one year). It came about because... I have donated personally - or offered my own airbnb home as a raffle prize - to quite a few WCB Holders in the past, to support them in their efforts. I did it just because I wanted to support the hands on work that was being done. I've been thinking about a WCB grant scheme for a while, as a way to provide more regular support. It's not an amount that's going to make it worth becoming a WCB Holder just to access it - it's only £100 every month, for one WCB Holder to claim, each time - but I hope that it can support our Badge Holders in a small way with Vets bills, tests, stuff like flyers or posters for fundraising events etc: anything really.
[Finally - UK Wildlife Transporters - UKWT is actively providing free Wildlife Volunteer Driver support for Vet Practices & Wildlife Rescues, based off the WCB Map.]
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