It's A Wild Life

As Surrey’s very own wildlife hospital celebrates 38 years since it began opening its doors to our county’s injured and abandoned animals, we take a look at what’s next for Leatherhead’s Wildlife Aid Foundation

WITH its hindquarters wedged firmly between iron railings, the young roe deer has nowhere to run and is in obvious distress. Having managed to get its shoulders through the bars, but not its larger rump, it is dangerously prone and needs help.

There aren’t many people in Surrey who would know what to do in such a situation. Which is why the concerned walker who spots the animal calls the professionals. Fifteen minutes later a man is kneeling next to the deer, talking slowly and calmly as he assesses the situation.

In almost 40 years of wild animal rescue, there is not a scenario that Simon Cowell, and the team at the Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF) which he heads, has not encountered. Simon produces two thin aluminium sheets and carefully slides them down each side of the deer, between its fur and the railings. He then gently pulls the animal backwards until it is free. After a quick check to make sure the only injury is to the deer’s pride, it is released and bounds gratefully back into the wild. Another of Surrey’s wild animals lives to fight another day.

Surrey Life columnist Simon is Surrey’s self-appointed wildlife guardian. The charity he founded and runs has rescued and treated hundreds of thousands of injured and stranded wild animals. Based in Leatherhead, WAF has a special place in the heart of the community. It is run by an army of 350 volunteers who respond to more than 20,000 incidents a year. The support it receives is evidence of the county’s love of wildlife.

New beginnings