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Thank You L.C.F.C
Leicester City Football club runs a players preferred charity scheme and we were lucky enough to be chosen as one of their preferred organisations for the season '03-‘04. All senior players choose a charity to help and Ben Thatcher picked the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital. He said “The scheme is all about players getting out into the community and helping the people that support Leicester City”.
Ben and his daughter, Libby, came to visit the hospital back in November to see all the work that Angela does. He helped out at feeding time and even helped Angela fix up a new pen. The only shame was that he wasn't able to see any foxes because the only one at the hospital had been released a few days before, as it had fully recovered.
Before he left Ben donated one of his signed football shirts to help us raise much needed funds, which indeed it did. We held a silent auction and the winning bid of £150 was made by Mr Jon Cox of Wigston.
We would like to say a very big thank you to Ben and Leicester City Football Club for all the support they have given to us and we would like to take this opportunity to wish the team good luck for next season and their return to the Premier League.
Right Place at the Right Time
When Angela and Sophie were returning from releasing a fox back into the wild they stopped off to have some lunch. Whilst they sat in the ambulance a mallard duck dropped into the road right in front of them, talk about being in the right place at the right time! They jumped out of the ambulance, stopping the traffic on the very busy road. They gave chase to the poor thing, who could only drag itself by it's wings under a stationary lorry that had stopped. Sophie crawled under the lorry after him but he then disappeared under a parked car on the other side of the road. By now concerned locals had joined in to help rescue him. Finally Angela managed to trap him against a wall and a local lady came across to see if the duck was alright, she said “Is he injured, shall I call the RSPCA?”. “It's OK” Angela replied, “I'm from the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital”, “Gosh” came the reply “You got here quick”. Angela just smiled and told the lady that they were just passing through.
Luck was certainly on the Mallard's side that day. When they got back to the hospital Angela was able to give him a thorough examination and discovered that he had broken his foot. He recovered well from his injuries and was released in a safe area in Leicestershire.
Thank You To The Bell Inn
We would like to say a very big thank you to the staff and customers of the Bell Inn at Husbands Bosworth. They have a collection box for us and over the last year they have raised over £300.Could your local pub have one of our collection boxes? Please ask them for us.
Items Needed
Donated goods help us raise much needed funds, below is a list of things we are always grateful to receive.
Dustbin Bags
Towels
Bird Seed
Tinned dog/cat food
Straw/Hay
Heavy Based water/feed bowls
Fairy Liquid (for washing swans)
Un-used postage stamps
Bric-a-brac
Tombola prizes
Wicker Baskets
Plant Pots
Plants/plant cuttings (for fund raising)
Help Needed
Are you able to help the hospital in any of the following ways? If so please either contact us via email or write to us.
Fund Raising Stalls - help is always welcome for our stalls. We may be running a stall in your area that you could help us with, even if it's only for an hour or so as it all helps and takes the strain off us a bit. Or if you know of a fete that is being held and would like to run a tombola for us, we can supply everything you will need.
Coin Collection boxes – can you put a collection box out anywhere for us?
Food bins – always a good idea to raise free food for our patients, do you know anywhere that would have one for us?
UIST Hedgehogs Update
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The rescue mission is under way again to relocate hedgehogs off the Scottish Isle of Uist. At the moment we do not know how many or if we will receive any of the relocated hedgehogs this year. Unfortunately the numbers were disappointing last year. We had a tremendous response from people to re-home them in their gardens and we are slowly working our way through the list by re-homing all the hedgehogs that come to the hospital into gardens that are suitable. |
UIST hedgehog Enjoying Its freedom in britain |
Operation Peregrine
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Meet shadow, a most beautiful juvenile female peregrine falcon. She was cut down in her prime by a thoughtless gunman. She received shot gun pellet wounds to her elbow and hind joints shattering the bones. What a tragedy to bestow such a graceful hunter. She was taken into see Nick Turner, our vet on duty at the Ashtree Veterinary practice in Market Harborough. Pain Killers and antibiotics were given. We knew it would be many weeks before she would be able to return to the wild. Her wing was strapped and then she was put in the confines of a hospital cage to restrain her from moving her wing too much. Her wound was checked daily and her antibiotics administered. It was a difficult task but slowly the infection cleared and the bones started to knit back together. As she was going to be with us for sometime we had to have a special ring fitted. This was done while she was under anaesthetic having her second x-ray taken. The bandages were taken off after 5 weeks and she was then moved to a secure aviary. At the moment we are waiting for her to moult and for her new feathers to grow, then she will be able to be released back into the wild. |
Hans the Swan
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Unfortunately Hans is one of the many fishing related injuries we see at the hospital every year. He had swallowed some fishing wire that an irresponsible angler had left behind. Hans had an operation to remove the wire from his throat and is making a satisfactory recovery. We were all very happy when he ate his first meal. He will stay at the hospital until his wound has completely healed and all of his feathers have grown back from where he was shaved for the operation. He will then be released back into the wild in the same area where he was found so that he can be reunited with his mate. |
Prickles the Hedgehog
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Prickles was handed into the hospital by a gentleman who found him caught in some pea & bean netting on his allotment. The fine netting had ravelled around his back leg and as he struggled to free himself it just got tighter. The netting had cut so deeply into Prickles' leg it went down to the bone, so unfortunately the vet had no other choice but to amputate his leg. The good news is that Prickles has recovered from his operation and is adapting quite well to walking on just three legs. Because of his disability he won't be able to be released back into the wild so instead he will be released into a secure garden where he will always be looked after. |
Injured Heron
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A heron was brought to us at the end of May after it was found in a back garden in Wigston, it had been shot with an air gun. Unfortunately we are seeing an increasing number of air rifle injuries at the hospital. We have had swans that have been shot through the neck, this heron with a smashed wing and all kinds of garden birds. They are suffering unnecessarily and then cruelly left to die. The heron was lucky that the lady saw him in distress and called the RSPCA. He is responding well to treatment and will be released back into the wild as soon as he is ready. It is a serious offence to kill or injure a wild bird, if you know any one who is going around shooting these birds please report them. |
Albino Blackbird
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We had a rare garden bird brought to us a month ago, an albino Blackbird. A member of the public brought him to us as it couldn't fly. His injuries were not very serious, he just needed some rest and recuperation. He stayed at the hospital for 7 days and was released along with some juvenile blackbirds, near to where he was found. |
