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'Please help us feed hedgehogs'


By Chris Saunderson

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The Scottish SPCA is appealing to animal lovers to help feed the hedgehogs in its care.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity saw a record number of hedgehogs arrive last year. The National Wildlife Rescue Centre cared for 2245 hedgehogs in 2019 and 1000 of those arrived between September and November.

One of the hedgehogs being cared for.
One of the hedgehogs being cared for.

The society has launched an appeal for non-fish based tinned dog and cat food to feed the hungry hogs.

Anna Keen, operations manager at the National Wildlife Rescue Centre said: “Hedgehogs generally come in to our care at this time of year because they are underweight. They need to be a certain weight to be able to hibernate.

“Many don’t increase their body mass enough to survive hibernating in the wild so they come in to our care and we feed them wet dog or cat food to get them to a healthy weight.

Can you help hedgehogs like this?
Can you help hedgehogs like this?

“Due to the high volume of hedgehogs, we are currently going through over 40 cans of food a day. Last year at the same time we were going through 100!

“We have started to see an increase in admissions, currently we are caring for 128, so we expect some busy months ahead.

“It is a race against time to get the wee hogs to a healthy weight and fit for hibernation before the worst of winter hits.

“We would appreciate any donations people can spare. These can be dropped in the donation bin outside the centre or gifted through our Amazon wishlist.”

A tasty snack for one of the youngsters.
A tasty snack for one of the youngsters.

In 2019 the Scottish SPCA cared for 11,051 wild animals.

Donations of wet non-fish based dog food or hedgehog food can be handed in to the centre located at Fishcross, FK10 3AN. People can also donate through the Amazon wishlist


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