VETSCORNER


Our vet team f rom lef t to r ight : Teresa, Clara, Bev and Lourdes (team minus Ali)


WILDLIFE TRAINING FOR INSPECTORATE


Stapeley Grange receives near ly 7,000 sick and injured wild animals each year . This is an incredible ef for t - f rom the init ial assessment to t reatment and rehabilitat ion through to eventual release. However , we f irmly believe that we can help even more animals, by widely suppor t ing t raining and teaching init iat ives - f rom the vet s, vet nurses, and student s that come to us for t raining, to wildlife rehabilitators, and even closer to home, our own f ield staf f .


The RSPCA employs over


400 field officers who are tasked with the collection and triage assessment of huge numbers of wild animals each


8


year - many of whom ultimately end up at Stapeley Grange, or one of our other 3 RSPCA wildlife hospitals. The inspectors have a year of full time training for the role before starting to work in the field. Whilst much of their work involves domestic animals, horses and livestock, in the summer months, they spend almost as much time going out to pick up wild animals.


It is essential that they have


a good level of understanding about the huge range of different species that they may be called out to. Whilst they receive some foundation training in wildlife before they qualify as field officers, there is so much more for them to learn. Our inspectors are


always asking us for advice, and for additional training, and the vet team at Stapeley Grange has recently run a wildlife training day for some particularly keen inspectors.


Handling wild animals


correctly, to prevent injury to either the animal or ourselves is an important part of working with animals, so we incorporated some handling sessions into the training - teaching inspectors the best way to uncurl a hedgehog and handle a swan.


We also covered some of the


legal aspects of wildlife that they may need to advise the public on, such as animals and birds that are protected, or that can not be released without a license.


The latest news f rom the vet team at Stapeley Grange


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