With your support, we’re able to provide love and expert care for the animals that need it most.
Latest News
Don’t forget it’s ‘Compassionate Derby’ on Saturday with some amazing stalls and small vegan businesses. There will be plenty to eat, talks to listen to as well as fabulous cookery demonstrations. Proceeds from the event are donated to our charity and we hope to see you all there. #veganevents #derbyvegans #veganfestival #compassionatederby #fundraising #animalrescue #farmanimalrescue
It was fantastic to finally release one of the buzzards in our care, back to his home territory. It has been a long battle to rehabilitate, with lots of treatment, finally released last Friday. The buzzard was found grounded and in fact tangled up in goal post netting. This was cut away, although there were no net injuries other than feather damage, he was not in a good way, very cold, weak and probably not far from death. Animals can survive a fair time without food or water, however they will deteriorate and die very quickly when cold, so the absolute priority for us was to warm him up. He spent several hours in an incubator, once warm and his feathers dried out, we could feed and examine more closely. He was far too weak to feed himself and so he was crop fed. Like most birds, buzzards have a crop, a muscular pouch where food is stored, this allows them to consume large amounts of food in a short time. We use a special formula for birds of prey and fed via a tube directly into the crop. This formula contains essential minerals and electrolytes needed to aid recovery. Overnight we had faeces and so could look at a sample under the microscope. this reviled that he had both round worm and fluke, two parasites that we need to treat with anti-parasitic drugs. A day or so later he was eating himself and certainly in a much improved condition, however we were not convinced we had got to the bottom of his issues, so he went off to our vets for x-rays. These revealed marks in the lungs and air sacks, which were diagnosed as aspergillosis, a fungal infection which can often be life-threatening. Birds can pick up spores when grounded and if they have a weakened immune system, the spores can result in mould growing in thier respirable system. For this, he was prescribed an antifungal drug, which administered by dosing his food daily. Once repeat x-rays confirmed an all clear, he was good to go. Often wildlife can be very costly, not least this chap who's cost us around £1,000 for expensive medication, multiple x-rays, consultations fees and food. Thank you to everyone that supports us in some way, it's through your kindness that allow us to rescue these animals, often with complex issues.
Its a very sad time at the rescue, we have had to say goodbye to our beloved Tulip, our oldest cow almost 15 years old. Tulip arrived a few years ago with a donkey who has since be homed, they came from a gentleman who could no longer care for them. Tulip went down with a leg injury, this is often very serious in such large animals. We were picking her up several times a day to keep her comfortable and giving her pain relief. Unfortunaly she showed no signs of improvement and so the hardest, yet kindest decision, was to let her go peacefully. Our amazing farm vets heavily sedated her before being euthanised by injection, she passed very peacefully with Beth and Jon at her side comforting her to the end. We can be thankful that she lived a great life denied to so many cows and in her final few days, she was very comfortable and received even more love and fuss from us, we miss her terribly. R.I.P. Tulip. 15/08/10 - 12/03/25
It’s our first ‘Peoples Kitchen’ of the year this Saturday serving up a gorgeous Italian inspired vegan dish for a suggested donation of £5. We will be having lasagne, focaccia, pasta and green salad on the menu. Last year we raised an amazing £2,765 for the charity through holding regular People’s Kitchens which goes a long way towards paying some of the ever increasing bills. Where else can you have a meal for £5? All welcome and hope to see you there for some tasty food. #fundraising #peopleskitchen #veganfood #veganfundraiser #sumacentre #animalrescuenottingham
This Sunday 9th March, Felicity one of our star volunteers is running the Nottingham 10k to raise funds to help with the running costs of our wildlife hospital. Please wish Felicity well and if you are able to, please sponsor her to help us rescue animals in need.
This little chap arrived a few weeks ago. As he arrived entire, we arranged for him to be castrated, so that he can live with some girls. Mr TT (Tiny Trotters or sometimes its Tiny Temper), is a miniature Shetland Pony, he's a little bit larger than a wheelbarrow! Today he had his big op and recovering well. He will still be fertile for a few more weeks so Mr TT will have to be patient. He has a home lined up and so once fully infertile, he will undoubtedly be very happy with his two female Shetland Ponies.
We are so grateful to SDL Minorfern, a family buisness selling car parts. Thank you for your amazing £4,000 donation, we are all truly grateful for your generosity and for the staff choosing to support us.
Another swan rescued, treated and successfully released this week. She was ringed and so we have been able to find out a little about her. She was ringed 25 years ago, so she is an old girl, in the wild they live on average around 20 years.
You may remember Jerry's rescue back in early September last year when he had been hit by a car and required the services of the amazing fire brigade to extract him from the car. Following major surgery to repair his broken leg including the insertion of steel plates and screws, his recovery has been slow but progressive. Finally in the capable hands of one of our fosters, he is ready for the next stage of his life, to find his life-long loving home. Jerry is very sweet, he's a lap cat that adours love and attention and the occasional trip outside, he can sometimes play a bit ruff but there's no malice. Although he has fully recovered, any new owner would need to accept that in time, he may require further surgery to remove the steelwork, originally put in place to allow the fractures to heal. Sometimes in later life this can aggravate and require removal now it's served its purpose. If you can offer Jerry a loving and dog free home away from busy roads please make contact with us directly.
With wildlife rescue we often have to make emotionally difficult decisions, the most important consideration is that the decisions are made in the best interests of the animal and in particular to minimise any suffering. Today we have sadly had to deal with 3 wildlife deaths. The first call this morning was to respond to a grounded buzzard which we collected. Unfortunately his right wing was badly broken. Sometimes we are able to successfully treat broken wings, this treatment can involve surgery to pinning bones whilst they heal. Unfortunately for this chap, there was an unrepairable double fracture, his suffering was short and it's now over, he is at rest. The right decision to end his suffering. Our second wildlife casualty of the morning was to a very ill fox, we offered advice but sadly before a volunteer could attend, the poor foxy passed. The third call this morning was for a pigeon. The poor pigeon had been attacked by a bird of prey and treated by a MoP for two weeks, prior to asking for expert help. On examination we could see he had a very hot and swollen shoulder where there had been significant trauma and broken bones. There was nothing more that we could do for this beautiful bird other than end his suffering. Whilst the MoP had the right intentions and wanted the very best for the bird and it's great that people care enough to try, however it's vital that if you ever find an injured wild animal, you try to seek professional and prompt assistance / advice to limit suffering and increase the chances of a full recovery and that inexperienced persons don't attempt treatment. Obtaining help for injured wildlife is very challenging, there are not enough wildlife rescues around and of these, we do not have enough experienced volunteers but we all do as much as we can and always offer advice at minimum. As a last resort, please seek the help from your nearest vets or nearest 24/7 vets. Under the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVCS) Code of Conduct, vets are obligated to treat wildlife from the public free of charge. Whilst many vets will do their very best and provide first line treatment, before discharging to a suitable rescue, some will routinely euthanise. Although sad and not ideal, euthanasia ends suffering and is a much more ethical choice then letting an animal slowly suffer and die waiting for the correct treatment. To help find your local wildlife rescue, you can use the links below; https://www.helpwildlife.co.uk/
As a committed wildlife rehabilitation centre today we hosted a great training day for our own fabulous team of dedicated rehabilitators and also welcomed other local wildlife rescue groups who hold (or are working towards) the Wildlife Care Badge standard. The badge is in recognition of meeting high standards and criteria and is now recognised nationwide with rescues up and down the country meeting this strict criteria and signing up to its codes of practise. It also means we are assessed every year and carry out ongoing training for our team. We are proud to hold this badge and uphold the standards required. We can always improve without doubt and have come a long long way since starting where our old utility room was our ‘make do’ wildlife facility of the time. With ambition, passion and a very kind legacy we were able to build our busy little wildlife hospital. Our protocols have changed over the years and we are always willing to try new ways of working and learn from others. Today we had the 2 best exotics vets, Jonathan and Luis who gave up their Sunday for us, as well as Yvonne from Stabbo & Sandiacre Spikey Rescue who all gave talks and were able to answer all our questions. We covered some great and interesting topics and came together as a team. Alongside us we had volunteers from Hedgepigs, Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham, Stabbo & Sandiacre Spikey Rescue, Ilkeston Wild Bird Rescue. Thank you to everyone that attended today and especially those that gave talks. Of course cakes and pizza at half time were involved! As ever thanks to our own ‘Team Wildlife’ as we prepare and brace ourselves for the imminent ‘silly season’’!! #wildliferehab #wildlifehospital #hedgehogrehabilitation #wildliferescuenottingham #nottinghamwildliferescue #nottinghamshirewildlife #hedgehogrescue #wildlifecarebadge #wildlifetraining
Another swan was released today. This young, but very large cob was escorted off a busy town centre main road by the Police, who subsequently called us for advice. We went to his help and collected him, over the past few days he's been checked over and assessed. He received the final all clear today so he was released. Mating Swans are extremely territorial and so swans should never be released anywhere, if they are released into the territory of a mating pair, they will fight. Therefore if we are unable to release where they were located, we release to known areas where there are groups of single, non territorial swans. There he'll eventually find his mate for life and look for his own territory.
Animals for Adoption
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