Wildlife Aid
Encyclopedia
The Wildlife Aid Foundation is a charity dedicated to the rescue, care and rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned animals. Based in Leatherhead, Surrey, UK, the centre operates Surrey
County's
only wildlife hospital (one of the three largest such hospitals in the UK) and maintains a referral service for wildlife hospitals throughout Europe
. The organisation also carries out environmental activist and educational roles. Wildlife Aid has attracted media attention for its rescues of photogenic
wild animals like young foxes and baby badgers; Animal Planet
's TV program Wildlife SOS
chronicles the activities of Wildlife Aid volunteers as they rescue imperiled animals.
, acquired a farmhouse in Leatherhead with the intent of running a local wildlife rescue facility. Formally established a year later, the centre's activities steadily increased in scale; the hospital now treats more than 20,000 wild animals a year, returning 70% of them to the wild. It has saved the lives of more than 150,000 animals since the charity's formation in 1980. The organisation currently operates on a budget of £
350,000 per year, and relies on over 200 volunteers to provide an all-year-round service. Its facilities include two operating theatre
s, a pathology lab
, and an intensive care unit
. A campaign is currently planned to build a larger complex on a new site that will allow the expansion of the organisation's educational programmes; the planned expansion would increase the facility's footprint to 10 acres (40,468.6 m²), rely heavily on eco-friendly technology, and be carbon-neutral.
As of 11th November 2011, "Wildlife Aid" was reincorporated at the Charity Commission as the "Wildlife Aid Foundation"
channel to produce a television series chronicling the drama of life in the wildlife rescue facility. The show experienced long-term success; it has been cited as "the longest-running animal rescue TV series".
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
County's
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
only wildlife hospital (one of the three largest such hospitals in the UK) and maintains a referral service for wildlife hospitals throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The organisation also carries out environmental activist and educational roles. Wildlife Aid has attracted media attention for its rescues of photogenic
Photogenic
A subject is photogenic if appearing aesthetically or physically attractive or appealing in photographs. Photogenic drawing, coined by William Fox Talbot, also describes the earliest method for recording camera images....
wild animals like young foxes and baby badgers; Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
's TV program Wildlife SOS
Wildlife SOS
Wildlife SOS is a TV show on Animal Planet, based in the UK's Wildlife Aid in Leatherhead, Surrey. The show has been running since 1996 and produced by Simon Cowell's Wild Productions. And can be found on Animal planet, Dmax and Five It is run almost completely by volunteers...
chronicles the activities of Wildlife Aid volunteers as they rescue imperiled animals.
Wildlife hospital
Wildlife Aid got its start in 1979 when its founder, Simon Cowell MBESimon Cowell (presenter)
Simon Cowell is a British television presenter and author who hosts the Animal Planet documentary series Wildlife SOS. He co-founded the Wildlife Aid Foundation animal rescue and rehabilitation centre, the organisation whose activities are the subject of the television series. Simon lives in...
, acquired a farmhouse in Leatherhead with the intent of running a local wildlife rescue facility. Formally established a year later, the centre's activities steadily increased in scale; the hospital now treats more than 20,000 wild animals a year, returning 70% of them to the wild. It has saved the lives of more than 150,000 animals since the charity's formation in 1980. The organisation currently operates on a budget of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
350,000 per year, and relies on over 200 volunteers to provide an all-year-round service. Its facilities include two operating theatre
Operating theatre
An operating theater was a non-sterile, tiered theater or amphitheater in which students and other spectators could watch surgeons perform surgery...
s, a pathology lab
Veterinary pathology
Veterinary pathologists are doctors of veterinary medicine who specialize in the diagnosis of diseases through the examination of animal tissue and body fluids. Like medical pathology, veterinary pathology is divided into two branches, anatomical pathology and clinical pathology. Veterinary...
, and an intensive care unit
Intensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
. A campaign is currently planned to build a larger complex on a new site that will allow the expansion of the organisation's educational programmes; the planned expansion would increase the facility's footprint to 10 acres (40,468.6 m²), rely heavily on eco-friendly technology, and be carbon-neutral.
As of 11th November 2011, "Wildlife Aid" was reincorporated at the Charity Commission as the "Wildlife Aid Foundation"
Wildlife SOS
In 1996, following a fire that destroyed one third of the hospital complex, Cowell found his organisation reliant on media attention for its continued survival. Cowell was approached by representatives of the newly formed Animal PlanetAnimal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
channel to produce a television series chronicling the drama of life in the wildlife rescue facility. The show experienced long-term success; it has been cited as "the longest-running animal rescue TV series".