Coronavirus: Sussex wildlife charity determined to keep rescuing animals

East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) is still sending out teams to rescue wild animals, despite having to reduce the number of volunteers coming into its casualty centre near Lewes.

WRAS founder Trevor Weeks MBE said: “We’ve had to close the doors of the centre to the public but we’re using our trailer outside as a drop-off point.

“We’re on minimal crew, but at the end of the day we want to keep our hospital open for as long as possible.

“We’re very aware that we don’t want to let the animals down.”

The charity, which was established as a voluntary group in 1996, although some of its team members have been doing animal rescues since 1985 – acts as a frontline service for wildlife casualties across East Sussex.

Trevor said the charity is still urging the public to contact them if they see a creature that needs to be rescued, and WRAS is taking extra care to make sure teams keep their distance when going out on a mission.

He said: “We are having to be sensible about the way we do the rescues. Two days ago we had an incident with a bird which had gone down a chimney and got trapped in a wood burning stove, so the occupants left the room so we could enter and rescue the bird.

“If someone is self-isolating it’s a lot harder for us to go inside to rescue animals. It’s a case of keeping a safe distance.”

Trevor hopes there will not be any further restrictions on movement so WRAS can continue to help creatures in need.

He said: “If the Government does bring the country into a total lockdown, are we still going to be able to go out and do rescues? We don’t know what we’re going to be up against.

“If people need to stay over at the centre at some point then we’ll have no choice. We have a legal requirement to look after the animals in our care.”

For more information on WRAS or to make a donation, go to wildlifeambulance.org.

The 24 hour wildlife rescue hotline is 07815 078 234.