A new campaign has been launched calling for FREE Veterinary Consultations for all Wild Animals. The petition is aimed at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) who regulate practice guidelines and codes of conduct for all Vets in the UK.

The campaign was started from a discussion on 'The Hedgehog Forums' - an online Hedgehog Rescue forum community, where it was decided, after much discussion between members and the Blyth Valley MP, Ronnie Campbell, that the best course of action would be to petition the RCVS for a change in legislation so that ALL vets would have to provide FREE consultations for injured and sick wild animals in need of treatment.

The campaign is in response to many situations experienced by Wildlife Carers and Members of the public alike. Such difficulties include:

- Not being able to find a Vet locally who is willing to provide treatment free of charge

- Wildlife Carers being charged ridiculous amounts of money by 'un-sympathetic' Vets for even the most basic of emergency treatments

- On occasions, people have been known to abandon wildlife casualties in need of care because of the financial implications involved with taking an animal to see a Vet - meaning that injured/sick wild animals are NOT receiving the care and attention they deserve

So why make the 'change'?

- The change would enable ANYONE to visit a Vet with a wild animal without being faced with a potentially large, expensive bill for the cost of a consultation

- Response times for treatment of injured/sick wild animals will be reduced without the animal having to wait to see a Vet who may or may not charge for a consultation

- Wildlife Carers/Rehabilitator's costs will be reduced when patients have to regularly visit the vets

- More people will be encouraged to rescue wild animals when in need of card, instead of denying a wildlife casualty veterinary treatment because of the financial implications (as seen in the past)

- People (being Members of the General Public) will not have to spend valuable time searching there local area for a Vet who is willing to examine and provide emergency care to an injured/sick wild animal. All animals in need of care will be dealt with sooner, increasing the chances of survival

- Nobody has the ownership of a wild animal, therefore a member of the public should NOT have to pay for the treatment of the wild animal


In order to keep this forum post brief, please take 2 mins to visit the campaign website below. You can view current signatures for the petition, add your own name to the petition, access promotional resources and even send special postcards to your friends to help spread the message!

Please visit : makeitfree.blythwildliferescue.co.uk for more information

If you wish to sign the petition immediately, please visit :

makeitfree.blythwildliferescue.co.uk/sign_petition.php

Please, please sign your name to the petition. Remember, this affects all of us caring, wildlife lovers NATIONWIDE.

The actual motto and sole aim of the campaign is to :

"Help People Help the Animals" - please help make this happen!

Thankyou.

John Anderson
Blyth Wildlife Rescue

This post was last modified: 02-03-2008 05:55 PM by Xeract.

What a fantastic campaign!! As a hedgehog carer I know firsthand how expensive treatment for wild animals can be. I have emailed the link to all my friends and family and will be spreading the word about this as much as possible!!

Thanks a lot, Cazzagirl. I just hope all the effort is worth it in the end.

Thanks for signing!

John.

This is a brilliant idea, people should not be charged for wild animal treatments if they are just trying to help.

Hi John

This is a great petition. My cousin is a vet and does treat wild animals free and generally I have had good experiences apart for a £70 bill for a vet to euthanase a wild deer!
Have you put anything on Facebook? I can circulate it more easily from there.

Best wishes

SCR

This is a great petition. It is so important for volunteers to be able to get help for the sick wildlife. I have signed.

I think facebook is a good idea, you won't believe how quickly good ideas can circulate to thousands of people (although there is some luck involved too).

I think the petition is a great idea. Anyone willing to help out a wild animal should not have to pay for any treatments.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your responses. I will certainly consider using Facebook as a medium to get more signatures.Can anyone help with that?

Many thanks,

John
Blyth Wildlife Rescue

I hate to be a wet blanket here, but vets are in the business to make money and I simply can't see them donating their time free. My local vet charges £15 just for walking in the door.

£15 is rather the norm for consultation charges, actually. They can charge what they like, and the most I have ever heard of anyone being charged is £27.50. Usually, most vets charge £17.50.

Thanks for your comment.

There is a vast difference between a Vet running a business, and a Vet doing what is RIGHT.
Many vets already 'donate' their time; but many don't. Thats why it is important we do this campaign and petition; to create equal practice standards so all veterinary professionals ahve a legal obligation

It all comes down to ethics, vets do have to make money though and they all have families to support. I dont think people should have to pay for just trying to hep a wild animal though

I don't think they should have to pay.

I think this is quite unrealistic. How can anyone imagine that it is reasonable to force a professional person to provide their services free of charge? I picture some poor vet inundated with wild life demands, having no income whilst continuing to pay rent, rates and staff wages, and having to buy the treatment materials!

I think over 350 people must think otherwise : (makeitfree.blythwildliferescue.co.uk/view_petition.php

Not only that, but the fact that this petition aims to address such issues you mentioned that are felt by some practising Vets; some are inundated and have to cope with unnecessary numbers of wild animals, only because other Vets in the same area refuse to even check them over. Remember, one of the main aims of the campaign is to create EQUALITY within the veterinary profession, so that each and every Vet has a responsibility to care for a wild animal brought into their surgery.

It must also be remembered that we are not 'FORCING' anything on anyone; these Vets you speak of, like ALL registered Veterinary Surgeons in the UK have to declare under oath that they promise treat all animals in need of treatment and to prevent suffering.
So I find the fact that you stated that WE were the ones who were being 'unrealistic' quite hard to believe : the bottom line is that if Vets DID NOT want to treat animals and prevent suffering, then they wouldn't be in the job in the first place!

Furthermore, with regards to 'provide their services free of charge', we have purposely left that clause out of the campaign and petition with good reason. We are not saying that the Vet has to fund everything from their own pocket; this matter will have to be dealt with by the RCVS, perhaps introducing a scheme that allows Vets to apply for funds to cover the treatment of wildlife casualties, similar to the current scheme available via the RSPCA, where Vets can claim back expenses for treatment of all animals to the value of £60, in cases where a source of payment is not available.

The most important thing to do now is to get as many people involved with this campaign, by signing the petition, and bringing this issue to the attention if the relevant authorities for action.

SIGN NOW : makeitfree.blythwildliferescue.co.uk/sign_petition.php


SIGN NOW : makeitfree.blythwildliferescue.co.uk/sign_petition.php

This post was last modified: 13-04-2009 11:04 PM by BWR.