‘Dream come true’ as wildlife hospital secures new premises

Ireland's first wildlife hospital, which was based at Garlow Cross for the past year, has moved to a new site in Mornington.

Work is continuing there to set up the new facility which will consist of isolation units, intensive care and high dependency units, reception, outdoor enclosures and aviaries.

The hospital is run by Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland – an organisation which has been a leading voice for over eleven years in the fight to save and look after Ireland’s wildlife.

WRI is an advocate for education and conservation for all native Irish species as well as the standardisation of rehabilitative care.

“WRI’s dream was to build Ireland's first dedicated wildlife and teaching hospital and now finally that dream is starting to come true with the move to Mornington,” says Aoife McPartlin, education and media manager with the group.

“Last year we operated out of a site in Garlow Cross, but due to circumstances beyond our control we needed to re-locate. An appeal was put out for premises and having visited the previous site, Cllr Sharon Tolan put us in touch with the owner of the site on Tower Road in Mornington and here we are.”

Aoife says the interim hospital at Garlow Cross served its purpose, not only of helping thousands of wild animals but also by putting the necessity for wildlife rehabilitation in front of the government.

“We had ministers, TDs and county councillors all visiting the interim hospital where they witnessed first-hand the incredible work being done. Now the Department of Agriculture as well as Minister Noonan have committed to support that work”.

From sunrise to sunset the Mornington site is a hive of activity and WRI want to give special thanks to Gerry and his crew from Instaspace in Duleek, Mick and company from Boyneside Electrical Michael and the gang from Markaline in the Naul for donating so much time, structures and manpower.

“This move would have been incredibly difficult without them”, Aoife says.

“People local to the site have popped in to see what’s going on and so far the feedback has been positive. We are excited about the future and enjoy sharing our plans for Mornington.

“We hope to develop relationships with local schools and community groups to get them involved in helping Ireland’s wildlife.”

WRI run wildlife courses for both veterinary professionals and the general public and liaise with vet practices all over the country on how to look after and treat wild animals and offer educational talks to schools and community groups.

They are developing an on-site Education ansd Discovery Centre where visitors can learn about Irish wildlife, rehabilitation work, habitats and lots more.

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland was founded in 2010 by Emma Higgs, a veterinary nurse who had set up the Irish Seal Sanctuary and realised the need for help for wildlife in general.

“People were caring for animals in garden sheds - some of them were veterinary nurses and she wanted to ensure that care was standardised across the board.

“Emma organised courses and people came over from England to give the tuition.”

As the volunteers built up their knowledge, UCD invited them to talk to veterinary students about what they are doing.

The long term plan was to build a large scale hospital.

Plans for a site at Donabate fell through and the group set up the interim hospital at Garlow Cross last year. Aoife says the most important part of their work is enabling the rescued animals be released into the wild again.

“We keep interaction between humans and animals to a minimum. Some of the very young animals may have to be bottle fed but otherwise we keep well away from them and we have special soft release enclosures, where we monitor them from a distance and prepare them for going back into the wild.

“We collaborate with NUIG on release sites and it is often close to where they were rescued.”

If you come across injured or orphaned wildlife the first port of call is their helpline – 0818 877766 where volunteers will point you in the right direction.

“Sometimes the animals don't need rescuing, some young animals can be left alone by their parents for a while.

“Our advice is don't dive in, call us and stand in front of the animal and describe what you see.”

Aoife is keen to stress “the hospital itself will not be open to the public because the animals are not only wild but also sick or injured”.

However, she promises an interactive, educational and fun experience for visitors to the education centre, when it is completed.