ambulance service

emergency rescues

Our ambulance service exists primarily to deal with emergency rescues involving both wild and domestic animals and is available to attend serious incidents 24 hours a day. Our principal response area covers the four River Wandle boroughs, namely the London Boroughs of Sutton, Croydon, Merton and Wandsworth and we serve over 1.2million people in that area, which is more than the entire population of Surrey.

Mainly dealing with wildlife casualties, our ambulance service is there to attend the larger or more dangerous species that we wouldn’t expect the public to handle. These include foxes, badgers and deer as well as birds of prey and calls come from householders, parks rangers and the police service, who frequently call us to incidents on the road. We also attend smaller animals if specialist knowledge or equipment may be needed to extricate them from difficult, dangerous or unusual situations. Examples include calls to get birds out of warehouses, rescue hedgehogs from drains, free squirrels caught in bird feeders and catch tiny fox cubs running along a busy train line.

We specialize in waterfowl rescues and our teams often travel beyond our normal boundaries into other areas such as Kingston, Richmond, Bromley, Chelsea and Fulham. We are on constant stand-by to the Port of London for incidents on the tidal Thames and deal with a wide variety of calls including broods of ducklings in unsuitable locations, swans trapped in ice, herons tangled in fishing line and large numbers of mixed waterfowl involved in local oil spills.

Our service also extends to assisting domestic animals, mainly when a life-threatening situation exists and the owner isn’t present. This may mean a stray dog running free in traffic, a group of kittens discovered in an unsuitable location or any scenario involving deliberate cruelty, abandonment or neglect. We are also on standby to assist the emergency services with everything from animals knocked down on the road through to pets involved in fires and our 24 hour responders play an essential part in providing our Pet Lifeline services to registered scheme members..

We have facilities to assist with unusual incidents involving some larger or aquatic species and past calls have included saving hundreds of fish in a polluted municipal pond, apprehending a goat running along a major A-road and helping to round up two escaped reindeer at Christmas!

We have various vehicles for different jobs, including a large ambulance, 2 4x4’s, a livestock trailer, 3 boats and a green goddess fire appliance, which as well as performing fundraising duties, is also equipped to respond to any large scale incident involving pollution or the need to establish a field hospital. We are listed partners in borough emergency plans and are on constant readiness to assist in caring for any animal casualties that may arise in the event of a natural or man made distater.

 

Small Animal Collections

When resources allow, we will endeavour to offer a collection service for small animals such as birds, hedgehogs and baby squirrels to people living within the boroughs of Sutton, Merton, Croydon and Wandsworth. Under normal circumstances, we do expect members of the public to bring such casualties into us and if collection is required, we will normally make a £5 charge, waived at our discretion for the elderly and infirm. This charge is towards the costs of providing the collection service and does not represent a contribution towards the costs of looking after the animal. This service applies to wildlife casualties only as any contained domestic animals should be referred to an appropriate pet re-homing charity.

 

Rescue Do’s and Don’ts

At Roadside, never put yourself or the patient in further danger. Use hazard lights, warning devices or anything suitable to warn other road users of the situation and on dangerous roads or motorways call the police to attend.

Never interfere with a fox cub, badger cub or deer fawn until you have taken advice from us or another wildlife centre. The only exception to this is if a clear and present danger to the animal exists such as proximity to traffic, dogs or other hazards.

Never pick up a dangerous animal that looks concussed...it could awaken suddenly and inflict serious injury. If possible wrap it in a blanket for warmth and wait for our arrival.

Never cut an animal free from wire or net if there is even a small possibility that you cannot contain it. Such injuries require hospital care and releasing any animal that has sustained a constriction could lead to a slow and painful death.

Do try to give us as much detail as possible if calling us to an incident on the road or in parkland etc. Especially useful are landmarks, details of cars parked near-by or description of clothing being worn by caller. Always try to stay with the animal but, if you really have to leave scene, mark the location with something visible and advise us what to look for.

Never round up any waterbird and simply put it onto the nearest watercourse or lake. This could prove fatal to ducklings who might drown or be predated and could cause a serious territorial fight between birds of certain species such as swans. Call us for advice every time. It is far harder for us to re-capture a bird on water that was on land to start with!

If you find any abandoned small domestic animal, contain it so that it is safe from predators. Rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters simply left outside in cardboard boxes will be predated by foxes and dogs or may succumb to the elements in both summer and winter.

Never pick up a cat that you assume to be a stray...it may be someone’s cherished pet that simply has a tendency to wander. Unless in obvious distress, do not offer food but build up a picture of its habits and consider putting up a Found poster in your area.

If you discover an abandoned animal, try to leave it as you found it until we arrive, unless the animal is suffering or in distress. We may want to gather photographic evidence at what could turn out to be a crime scene. In the case of wildlife crime, never touch any paraphernalia such as weapon ammunition, dog hair etc nor interfere with the area around the scene as again this may be needed for forensic examination