[The image below is from our blog post on our understanding of the Wildlife Rescue Industry as a whole, and the challenges and postives that might be most experienced.]
It’s totally understandable that a new idea like self regulation (especially when launched by a new organisation, like the WCB) should run into rumours & hearsay going around about it, especially when born from concerns over what impact we might potentially have...
When I get some old/new misunderstandings about the WCB shared with me I always wonder how best to act. Mostly, I just leave it be because I hope that, over time, we will prove ourselves trustworthy and transparent in all that we stand for (especially as it is all laid out on our website).
Recently, there’s been some particularly concerning rumours going about, so I think that it makes sense to just put up some info on what the WCB really stands for and what we do and don’t do, so that everyone at least has the correct information to make up your minds about us. This blog post will be available for everyone to refer to, should you want to. You can contact me directly to ask any questions at all, at Alana@wildlifecarebadge.com. [You can also ask to arrange a call to chat to me about any concerns.]
Here’s some rumours about the WCB…. They are totally understandable concerns and I would be worried about the WCB if I thought that they were true, so I wanted to lay any concerns to rest. Hopefully this blog post will do that…
Does the WCB demand that every animal with every Rehabber see a Vet? No. Our stance comes from the law itself and we expect our Badge Holders to have an ongoing relationship with a Vet and to be operating within the law by getting medications from a Vet and tests and examinations when necessary for the well being of an animal. It is then between each Badge Holder and their Vet, in a relationship of trust, which animals need to be seen in person by a Vet and which don’t. All we require is proof that at least once, every 3 months, a Badge Holder has used a Vet, to prove on ongoing Vet relationship. All of this is laid out in full on the WCB website.
Does the WCB want Badge Holders to euthanaze any captive disabled animals that they might have? No. As stated in the previous point, our stance comes from the law itself and we have even commissioned Advocates For Animals solicitors to find out the law on captive wild birds (you can find it in the files section of our Facebook Group) so that everyone understood the legislation. We do expect animals to ALWAYS be kept in high welfare conditions but those conditions are between Badge Holders and their Vet, when the Vet Visit occurs. We do have the Long Term Care Badge in development - which is specifically for those Rescues who also operate as ‘Sanctuaries’ - but ‘space/enrichment/social requirements’ and other welfare specifics for wildlife in captivity are incredibly complex and this is still very much in a research/development phase. (If you’d like to have input into this research/development, you’re very welcome). When it does come in, like the Rehab, Release & Transit Badge, it will be voluntary. At no point will the LTC Badge demand the euthanization of all captive wildlife.
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There have been some rumours on public wildlife online forums - or being passed between Rescues - of what some Rehabbers are afraid the WCB does. Before I finish on a - hopefully - high note, I’d like to address these concerns, in case they are also something you might have heard and are worrying about.
As well as the rumours - above - that this post is refuting, here’s everything else we DON’T do…
We don’t advise Wildlife Rescues to tell the finders who bring wildlife to them that an animal lived - if it passed away - in order to bring in more donations.
We don’t share confidential information. [ONE EXAMPLE IS… If a concern has been raised about a WCB Holder, the identity of the person who raised the concern is 100% protected: it stops with me and is never repeated to anyone else. ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS… If you want to apply to become a WCB Holder and want to keep it private, no one outside of the WCB ever knows that you’ve applied: should you change your mind and decide not to go for the WCB after all, we never tell anyone you even applied in the first place. It’s up to you to tell everyone that you are a WCB Holder once your Vet Check etc is all ticked off and you’re ready to make that announcement.]
We don’t abuse Rescues if you ask us questions about the WCB.
If a Wildlife Rehabber doesn’t pass the KA, we don’t report you to the RSPCA.
If a Hedgehog Rehabber doesn’t pass the KA, we don’t try to get you struck off the BHPS list.
I haven’t personally hired solicitors to end all euthanasia and advocated that every wildlife casualty - no matter their injuries - should be moved to a sanctuary to live in forced captivity.
Equally, I haven’t personally advocated that every single wildlife casualty who is unreleasable should be euthanazed. The WCB has been founded on what is legal with regards to wildlife rehabilitation and currently, keeping unreleasable wildlife in captivity is legal. My personal opinion might change - with more experience - but so far it seems to me that some animals do great and desire to stay alive and thrive in sanctuaries BUT some don’t and that - for them - euthanasia might be the kinder option. As you will all see when the LTC Badge launches: all we will have done to stand up for wildlife rights is put in place very strict housing standards and accountability so that the well being of every animal comes first and observation measures are put in place to make sure that an animal is thriving in captivity and - if they are not - for euthanasia to always be an option, if it is in the animal’s best interests.
Finally, we at the WCB will not publicly or privately malign, persecute or target any Rehabber who failed a KA or a Vet Visit. If a Vet reported back to us what they felt to be significant levels of negligence and accidental cruelty, we would report the Rehabber in question to the RSPCA to be visited BUT the Vet Visit is first and foremost a source of support: not just to assess. If a few adaptations to become a high welfare premises are all that is required, we would support your Vet to support you and then you would ideally pass the second Vet Visit. At no point (even if there were significant cruelty concerns) would you ever be publicly named and shamed by the WCB. Our concerns would only privately be passed onto the RSPCA.
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I’d like to finish on a personal note…
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 I wanted to simply know how best I could help any poorly/injured creature that came my way. (I was running UK Wildlife Transporters & I wanted to know 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.
As our website states… ‘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.’
I have accepted, however, that it’s not up to me to guarantee the WCB’s success: it’s up to the wildlife rescue industry itself to adopt it or not, which is fine.
If another organisation ends up launching their own wonderful self regulation version and it booms, then I will cheer them on. Right now, that hasn’t happened yet, so for wildlife (and for Rehabbers too, as I think a kinder industry with a lot more support is deserved by everyone) I am keeping going with the WCB & pouring all of my heart - and a great deal of time - into it.
[I have been getting a lot of phone calls recently from people who are newly coming round to the WCB though, so maybe this coming year is the year that we go big, after all.]
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