Help us save grey squirrels

Wildlife centres and charities are no longer allowed to release grey squirrels back into the wild, under the terms of The Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order, which came into force in December 2019.

Instead, licences are only being granted to keep these intelligent, adaptable and inquisitive mammals in captivity. This is cruel, and impractical for centres that have limited space and resources.

Animal welfare organisations, wildlife charities, rescue centres and campaigners have been opposing this order for over a year, with a petition gaining over 59,000 signatures. Despite this, and evidence against the reasons to do so, Defra and Natural England have still implemented the regulations.

In just a few weeks, rescue centres will be faced with their first grey squirrel orphans of the spring. Currently the Order gives three choices:

Turn the animals away to an unknown fate.
Admit them and consign them to the hell of captivity for life.
Euthanise them.

It is an incredibly sad situation for any wildlife centre that has previously held a licence to look after grey squirrels.

There is one last option, however. The Wildlife Aid Foundation has consulted lawyers, who have advised that a Legislative Reform Order (LRO) could potentially be used to amend the legislation. 

We need to raise the funds to move forward with this legal action,  please can you help?

All funds raised will go towards this cause and any remaining donations, will help to fund any future legal challenges to save British wildlife.