South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital

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Dumfries, Scotland
South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital

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South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital is a small charity. Our aims are to rescue, rehabilitate and release wildlife back into their natural environment.

Please note we do not have onsite vets. Licensed by D&G council. Licence No: 26/00026/ANWELF Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation

06/11/2026

We are in complete agreement with this statement. We spend countless hours and funds on training and development for our staff to ensure best practices are always followed. It’s not about our feelings, it’s about the welfare and quality of life of wildlife that should be in the wild which is their home.

The British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC), Badger Trust and Scottish Badgers have issued a joint statement following the recent media coverage surrounding "Harriet", a badger cub whose future has become the subject of considerable public attention.

Harriet's situation raises serious questions about animal welfare, professionalism and the importance of appropriate wildlife rehabilitation from the outset.

Wildlife rehabilitation is not about becoming attached to wild animals or keeping them because they appear tame or comfortable around people. It is about understanding their complex biological, behavioural and social needs, providing appropriate specialist care and, wherever possible, giving them the opportunity to return to a natural life in the wild.

Badgers are highly social animals. Human affection cannot replace the complex social relationships, behaviours and environmental requirements that are fundamental to their welfare.

We are deeply concerned that Harriet's opportunity to live a natural life alongside other badgers has been lost through inappropriate intervention and habituation.

This case also highlights why professional standards, appropriate facilities, veterinary oversight and a commitment to evidence-based rehabilitation are so important. Good intentions alone do not make someone suitably equipped to rehabilitate wildlife.

We encourage everyone to read the full joint statement, which sets out our concerns, the welfare considerations surrounding Harriet's future and the importance of seeking specialist advice when encountering vulnerable wildlife.

Read the full statement here:
https://www.badgertrust.org.uk/post/harriet-the-badger-why-good-intentions-are-not-enough-in-wildlife-rehabilitation

05/11/2026

We have had quite a lot of hedgehogs coming in recently and they are eating us out of house and home.
If anyone is able to help us with some cat food donations that would be great. We have some on our wish list but any meaty cat food in jelly is great. Our wish list is on the front page of our website www.soswh.co.uk
One of the new hogs was showing signs of internal parasites and when we tested a sample under the microscope, I think it’s safe to say we were correct.
Poor Serge has lungworm and was started on medication.

All of our new patients have a test done to check for parasites and also to check which type of parasite they have may have and treat accordingly.

05/11/2026

We had an admission of another buzzard. This boy has had a collision with a lorry. His eye is a little swollen and he has superficial cuts above his beak.
Buzzards have a ridge round their eyes that protects the eye. We are hopeful he will make a full recovery.

01/11/2026

Two of of hedgehogs and our buzzard were able to move onto their next stage in rehabilitation. The two hedgehogs moved out from intensive care and isolation into the hedgehog room.
Our buzzard moved into one of our large flight aviaries.
Tomorrow, our two feral pigeons will move into their flight enclosure and our Tawny owl will move into her flight aviary.

When patients come in it’s not a straight forward process. Apart from all the admission assessments/treatments/vet visits/ protocols/individual factors and so much more. 😅
The animals go through stages and move from isolation/intensive care, to a species appropriate room for further care. Once we are satisfied they are making enough progress and gotten to a specific weight/condition and are behaving as its species should, they move to an inside/out area where it is perfectly dry and enclosed, again species appropriate. After many more factors are taking into consideration, they finally move to the outside aviaries/pens before their eventual release. We must still keep an eye on their progress and sometimes even have to take them a step back with them before trying to progress them again. In between all that for each individual patient, we must clean to protocols and then stream clean each individual enclosure as we move them on.
If the last animal has left that particular room, it must be cleaned top to bottom and then sanitised with our fog sanitiser machine.

Thorny moved out of intensive care today.

25/10/2026

We never got off scot free with the storm. One of the trees has came down and taken our new fence and underpinned wire with it. Thankfully it narrowly missed our flight aviary and our bird of prey is absolutely fine.
All our fence tarps have been ripped off and will need replacing. We spend a bit of time this morning mending roofs that were about to lift off.
Our electric keeps going off and on which prevents us using the phone and internet.
Hopefully normal service will resume tomorrow.

17/10/2026

Our manager is in Mansfield this weekend for the British Wildlife Council Symposium. It’s an important event for wildlife rehabilitation. Although we are licensed through the council. We are also a member of British Wildlife Council who lay the foundation for correct wildlife procedures in rehabilitation.
Please be patient with our remaining staff and volunteers as they have many animals to get through.

16/10/2026

This is the second cub on his way.

16/10/2026

This is the release of one of our two foxes. The second one was a little nervous to leave the box but was soon on his way.

16/10/2026

Apologies for the quiet lately. We have been very very busy. Our recent badger release. He came in pretty worse for wear. Lots of wounds, parasites and a bit underweight.
He was treated daily for his wounds and he was pretty easy to put weight back on once his ailments were attended to.

22/09/2026

Our young Weasel was released back into the wild today.

Address

SRUC Barony Campus
Dumfries
DG13NE

Telephone

+441387860461

Website

http://soswh.co.uk/

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