If you have a small casualty that you have contained in a box or pet carrier, they can be transported to rescue in that. Ensure there is a towel in the box with them so they have something to grip, and, if you haven’t already done so, remove any food or water so this doesn’t spill on the journey.
If you have access to a car then the box can then be placed on the seat and secured with the seat belt to prevent the box from moving too much and causing the animal distress. Try to keep the car quiet by keeping conversation to a minimum and the stereo off – remember that to the casualty, human voices are a source of fear.
What if I don’t drive? #
Your first instinct may be to expect the rescue to pick the animal up from you. TV might have given the impression that animal rescues have a fleet of shiny white vans and uniformed employees on hand to pick animals up but the reality for most wildlife rescues is that they rely on unpaid volunteers who are fully occupied cleaning, feeding and medicating their many patients. If they were to leave the rescue to collect casualties, the welfare of the animals in their care would be compromised.
If you find a casualty and can’t drive it to the rescue yourself, please try your very best to get it there using one of the solutions below before politely asking the rescue whether they may have a volunteer available to help (and being understanding if they don’t).
- Take public transport. The casualty won’t find this any more or less stressful than travelling in a car. Just cover their box/carrier with a towel so they can’t see out.
- Ask a friend, family member, or neighbour to drive you or take the animal to rescue on your behalf.
- Contact a local pet ambulance service. Many such businesses do rescue work on the side and may be happy to deliver the wildlife casualty for free or at a reduced rate. You can find them by googling ‘pet ambulance’ and your area.
- Post in a local social media group to ask for help. This is very often successful as most groups will contain an animal lover happy to help. Your chances of finding someone are even better if you post in a local vegetarian/vegan group or one dedicated to animals. Just put your town into the site’s search facility and you should see various options come up.
- Call an Uber. Many Uber drivers are happy to deliver contained casualties to rescues themselves so you wouldn’t need to travel with the animal. In cases of genuine hardship, where you have exhausted all other options, we may be able to help you with the costs of this. There’s full guidance on how to do this at https://helpwildlife.co.uk/advice/uber/
