What is the E.W.R.A?
European Wildlife Rehabilitation Association
Across the country there are many people helping to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife. Many of these provide excellent standards of care, however, as in all walks of life, a few centres, whilst seeming to be professional and having the best interests of the animal at heart, are operating for other reasons. Intentionally or otherwise, the animal suffers.
Because of this the larger wildlife centres have started to push for legislation or some other method of control and monitoring.
At Hedgehog Bottom we believe that the animal in care comes first at all times, whether that means dragging ourselves out of bed at 3am to take in a casualty, or putting other plans on hold to get an animal to a vet for urgent treatment.
There is currently no reliable way for the general public to tell which type of rescue they are dealing with, so in order to reassure our finders that we work in as professional a manner as possible, we are delighted to be accepted as Associates of the E.W.R.A. and assure all finders that we adhere to the Code of Practice under supervision of our Veterinary Surgeons.
A love of animals on its own is not enough to help a hedgehog in trouble.
Pro Igel
The following explanation is taken from the facility registration document produced by Les Stocker MBE. HonAssocRCVS.
Why the E.W.R.A.?
For some time the EWRA Associates have been contemplating the establishment of minimum standards of practice acceptable to Government and the veterinary profession. Our adoption of the Code of Practice was the first step in the right direction and was generally accepted, especially by the Government as seen in the Parliamentary reply by the Secretary of State for the Environment and Countryside:
The Government recognise the excellent practical work already undertaken on a voluntary basis by the growing number of wildlife sanctuaries, hospital and rescue centres. Existing legislation already protects captive animals against ill-treatment. The Government are not persuaded of the case for further statutory measures either for registration or inspection. In this field it would be preferable for the bodies themselves to develop and agree voluntary codes of practice and thereby avoid incurring unnecessary cost and bureaucracy.
In consideration of this, responsible rehabilitation centres are now looking more closely at self-regulation. We believe that regular veterinary support and supervision is necessary and desirable. It is important that the E.W.R.A. Associates, who have already adopted the Code of Practice, can confirm that their retained veterinary surgeons visit the centres at least once monthly and monitor adherence to the Code of Practice.
Given such confirmation we can then draw up a Register of Associates which should satisfy all those interested in animal welfare practices. This list will then be available to vets, the police, coast guards, councils etc., and will form the basis of consultation with the Department of the Environment and other bodies. An alternative proposal would, we believe, be for inspection by another charity which would put ourselves in a direct conflict of interest.
