Care home manager and mum-of-three looks to transform her garage into a hedgehog hospital
Fundraiser launched for conversion of garage into hedgehog hospital
A Midlothian woman who has rescued more than 80 hedgehogs and cared for them in a spare bedroom in her house is now planning to convert her garage into a permanent sanctuary for the animals.
Ann Morrison, a care home manager from Bonnyrigg, first began caring for hedgehogs last summer, after she offered to help Burntisland Rescue transport a poorly hog to their rescue centre in Fife.
The next few months saw her make the same journey many times over. And while she had no problem helping with the transportation, she questioned Burntisland Rescue on why she had to bring them as far as Fife.
It then came to light that there was no hedgehog rescue in Edinburgh and Lothians, and that any rescue was either sent to Fife or Glasgow.
Inspired to fill the gap, Ann trained with experienced wildlife rescuers over online mentoring on WhatsApp and work shadowing in person before launching her own rescue in a spare room in her home.
Almost a year later, she has taken in as many as 80 of the prickly omnivores and has tried her best to nurse them back to health whilst working her full-time job - not to mention being mum to three children, and owner of a cat and a snake.
She said: “I've always liked animals. I didn't think it was really ever going to be possible to start a rescue because of the space, but because hedgehogs don't take up much space it was totally possible to do that.
“Obviously they're nocturnal, so when I go to clean them and feed them I'm doing that at night. So, you know, I'm not going to disturb them too much.”
Since starting Midlothian Rescue and Rehabilitation, she is now looking to expand her capacity and move their home from a spare bedroom to a fully kitted out garage.
She said the spare room solution is “no longer sustainable” and so she is waiting to get her welfare licence so she can house 20 animals at a time rather than the current eight.
Since opening, the rescue has previously been funded completely by public donations, raising one thousand pounds in just a week. This has helped Ann accommodate her hedgehogs, using the money to buy heating pads, food and tubs.
Ann also works closely with local veterinary practices who often provide treatments or euthanise free of charge when the hedgehog is too sick to recover.
The most common cases she sees include dog bite injuries (punctures), hogs stuck in football nets or the animal getting hurt by discarded rubbish or fly-tipping waste such as old couches with springs or empty paint tins.
She is due to speak to Lynn Cochrane from Midlothian Council to see what they can do about the rise of fly-tipping.
She also hopes to educate the public more about the animals, warning that hedgehogs seen wandering during the day are usually unwell, dehydrated or injured.
Ann said: “They'll say, oh, there's a hedgehog, it's just sunbathing. They don't sunbathe so that's when I know that they're really sick.”
Ann has now launched a GoFundMe appeal to help cover the costs of her garage conversion. She hopes the new space will allow her to care for more hedgehogs while giving volunteers somewhere more suitable to help with feeding, cleaning and rehabilitation.
She hopes the garage will be completed by winter which is often when rescue cases spike.
The fundraiser has already attracted an incredible amount of support, raising £2,175 out of 3K in just five days.
Ann said: “ It never fails to amaze me how passionate people are about hedgehogs.
“Not everybody has got money to spare, so even just people sharing is massive. One woman shared it on a Midlothian’s women's page and you know I don't know this woman but it was so nice.”
If you would like to donate to Ann’s fundraiser click here.