Rescue expansion, insulating and hutches

Here at Hogwatch Dumbarton we aim never to turn a Hedgehog in need away from our door. We are a rehabilitation rescue who takes on some of the more difficult and expensive cases which other rescues may not have the resources or experience to deal with. This enables many more Hedgehogs who would otherwise be euthanised, to get a chance at life again under our care.

There are so many perils for Britain’s Hedgehogs, but with our help we hope to do our bit to reverse the massive decline in their population. On two occasions since we have been set up, we have had to turn away three Hedgehogs simply due to our capacity to deal with them. We have of course ensured that they got a place elsewhere but it did not sit right with us and we would hope never to have to do this again.

We do of course need to be sensible about how many Hedgehogs we can support in rescue at any one time, and we have clear protocols to enable us to assess this dependent upon the needs of each Hedgehog.

In order to be able to continue to give the high level of care that we currently provide, whilst increasing our numbers, we need to make our operation far more slick. We need to purchase 9 new purpose built hutches which will cost just short of £2,000, these are much more hygienic and easier to clean as well as providing an enhanced environment for the Hedgehogs. Further to this we need to insulate the rescue against both the cold and hot weather to enable us to provide an environment more conducive to recovery for the Hedgehogs as well as being a comfortable ambient temperature for our volunteers.

We need to buy and fit kitchen units, level the floor and lay new flooring which is way to clean again to enable us to spend less time on these tasks and therefore more time providing care to our patients. We also need to purchase and install a sink and drainage with hot and cold running water to quicken the whole operation allowing us to spend more time on caregiving.

Hogwatch Dumbarton Hedgehog Rescue is a registered Scottish Charity and all funding received goes directly to the care of the Hedgehogs, no one takes a wage/salary from the rescue, all of our time is volunteered.