Crisis as hedgehog hospital near Newmarket reaches breaking point
A hedgehog hospital near Newmarket is in crisis with a lack of funds and volunteers coinciding with an overwhelming number of animals needing care.
Owner Sue Stubley has been forced to temporarily close the hospital which she founded at Ousden 15 years ago because it cannot cope with the volume of new patients. Incredibly since she made that decision more than 200 hedgehogs have been brought in for help.
“There are hedgehogs in my bedroom, bathroom, lounge, kitchen and dining room as well as in the hospital and outside runs,” said Sue.
“I am five good volunteers down due to illness and I’ve had to move into a small annexe. I’ve only had five good night’s sleep since June because I’m up at all hours feeding the baby hedgehogs and I’ve reached a point where I just want to sit and cry.”
It was only a month ago that Sue’s hospital had a worldwide moment of fame featuring on news broadcasts from the USA to Japan when her two-year-old Jack Russell bitch Teasel became a surrogate mother to six abandoned kittens, cleaning, carrying and even feeding them although she had never had puppies of her own.
At the time, Sue admitted that she could never say no to any animal in need of a home and has looked after fox cubs, badgers, owls and leverets as well as hedgehogs throughout the summer.
Currently she has more than 200 hedgehogs, the majority of them juveniles and babies, receiving round-the-clock care in the hospital which has now reached breaking point as has Sue herself.
“We have already treated just on 800 hedgehogs this year and now I don’t have a house any more, I don’t see my friends, I am really run down and tired and I have to ask myself how much longer I can go on,” said Sue.
“What I need most is to be able to afford a paid member of staff but we are desperate for funds and volunteers. If anyone is able to help us they can text me on 07702 211302. I don’t answer the phone any more because if it’s someone with a sick hedgehog I would probably say ‘bring it in’,” she said.
The crisis her hospital is facing was a countrywide one, said Sue, due to warm and wet weather into the autumn which had made it difficult for hedgehogs to find food and what they do find can be full of bacteria.
“All the hospital and rescue centres up and down the country are full to bursting and the best advice we can give to anyone who finds a hedgehog in need of care is to put it into a high-sided box and keep it warm, clean it out regularly, feed it dog or cat food, but not milk and get it to a rescue centre as soon as possible,” she said.
