Ethical and Legal Considerations When Treating Free-ranging Wildlife

What is wildlife rehabilitation?

The treatment and temporary care of injured, diseased, and displaced indigenous animals and the subsequent release of healthy animals to appropriate habitats in the wild (Miller 2012)

What are the legal and ethical responsibilities of wildlife treatment?

• Ethical, legal and professional requirements

• 'Addressing the balance' of human actions

• Public demand and practice PR

• Personal satisfaction.

What are the responsibilities of the veterinary surgeons’ in regard to wildlife care?

• Must take steps to provide 24-hour emergency first aid and pain relief to animals according to skill and specific situation

• Providing

Do finders of wildlife have ownership of that animal?

NO, once the animal comes to the vet, the veterinarian can take control of situation, papers do not need to be signed to sign over animal

What laws protect animals in the wild?

• Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)

- Protects wildlife in the wild

- Exceptions for taking and keeping for welfare reasons, if the intention is releasing it back to the wild.

Once wild animals are in captivity or under control of humans, what laws cover them?

• Animal Welfare Act 2006 (E&W) [Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011]

• Protects all animals in captivity

• Five needs / 5 domains must be fulfilled

• Some species cannot be kept without a licence or released.

What large-scale disasters may impact wildlife?

• Bush fires

• Oil spills

• Things happening at sea - strandings

• • Pollution

  • Road Traffic Collisions (RTC)

  • Snares, traps, gun shot, poisoning etc.

  • Anthropogenic traumatic injuries

  • Impacts of construction

  • Loss of habitats.

40% of admission to wildlife hospitals are as a result of direct _____ ______.

human activites

What are some of the factors behind working with wildlife?

• Feel good factor

• Development of professional skills in new species

• Contribution to positive benefits

• Beware excessive and prolonged treatment

• Welfare of the individual animal must come first.

What are the benefits of veterinary intervention in wildlife medicine?

• Animal welfare

• Education

• Investigating wildlife crime

• Conservation

• Disease surveillance

What should be at the forefront of wildlife rehabilitation?

• Welfare of the individual

• Should have a full normal function, aka should be able to lead a normal life in the wild

• Welfare can be compromised:

• at capture

• during captivity - while healing

• upon release - if it cannot survive it is not beneficial to go through rehab process

How can animal welfare of wild animals be preserved in captivity?

• Prevention of suffering can be through:

• euthanasia or,

• appropriate treatment and rehabilitation

• Welfare must be satisfied at all stages.

The second reason after welfare, for wildlife rehabilitation is…

Education

Can be provided to…

- staff and volunteers

- general public

- schools

- special interest groups

- veterinary professionals

• Education can be provided in respect to…

- wildlife

- the environment

- disease control

- 'One health' issues

- animal care and welfare.

When posed with a situation involving the investigation of wildlife crime, what questions might be involved to determine crime?

- Has an offence been committed?

• Is animal medically unwell or starved for instance?

- What was the cause of injury or death of an animal?

- What species are involved?

- Are there any witnesses to the incident or the finding of the animal(s)?

- Is any evidence securely stored and identifiable?

- Are any further tests or examinations of benefit?

Must note species specific behaviors, injuries caused by species/natural behaviors, or injuries might be involved in illegal things like badger hunting.

Vets must maintain:

• Need to maintain:

- Objectivity

- Meticulous record-keeping

- Chain of evidence - marking evidence

- Safety - do not put yourself at risk

- Client confidentiality (speak to RCVS).

How can veterinarians directly be involved in conservation efforts?

• Depends on country

• Internationally includes:

- medical treatment of individuals

- breeding programs

- mass preventative treatments of animals

• Increasing evidence of direct conservation benefits.

How can veterinarians indirectly be involved in conservation efforts?

• Highlights problem areas and conservation issues providing info on:

- native species distribution

- non-native species distributions

- trends across time

- trends across changing environments

- anthropogenic effects.

• Provide conservation specific education:

- captive management

- impacts of captivity upon survival in the wild

- other species-specific skills.

• Must never be at the expense of individual animal welfare.

What are some One Health programs involved in wildlife disease surveilance?

• 'One health' concepts important

• National and International monitoring

• GB Wildlife Disease Surveillance Partnership (APHA) looks at:

• reservoirs of potentially zoonotic diseases

• diseases of livestock

• new pathogens of wildlife

• environmental pollutants.

• Wildlife centres and vets can contribute positively to these programs.

What are some of the disadvantages of veterinary intervention in wildlife rehabilitation efforts?

• Welfare of the individual

• Welfare of the population

• Welfare of other populations

• Hunan health concerns

• Cost and time constraints

• Diversion of funding.

Why might the welfare of the animal in captivity be compromised during rehabilitation?

• Inappropriate attempts to extend natural life

• Stress and compromised welfare in captivity

• Welfare upon release

• Should be the absolute overriding consideration

• Euthanasia or treatment - 'Triage'.

Even trying to balance treatment of wild animals , it will interfere with ____ ______.

Natural Selection

• Veterinary care might keep animals alive that would otherwise have died

• Medication may give animals an 'unfair' advantage

• Preventative medical care may do the same.

What are some of the ecological considerations regarding the treatment of wildanimals?

ANIMAL DOES NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION

• The casualty animal is part of the broader ecosystem

• The casualty also has its own ecosystem that moves with it into and out of captivity

• Both the casualty and its ecosystem have individual genetics

• All can be influenced by treatment and captivity

• Risks are increased by translocation.

What are some other potentially negative impacts of release of wild animals?

• May impact

• the same species

• other wild species

• domestic livestock and pets

• humans.

• Competition for resources

• Disease, sometimes new and

novel, may be spread

• Predators/prey relationships

• Environmental effects and habitat

change.

What factors may influence the cost of treatment and rehabilitation of animals?

• Costs may be incurred by:

- individuals

- wildlife hospital

- veterinary practice

• Costs include:

- staff

- facilities

- diagnostic tests

- animal food and bedding

- drugs and materials

- professional time

• Need to talk about it with wildlife centres and veterinary practice owners.

• We need to not spend money on one animal, but resources that can be spent on other animals.

What are some potential funding diversions (Away from rehabilitation → towards other things)/

• Could fund other things:

- environmental protection

- breeding programs

- education

• Positive benefits of rehabilitation, beyond education, are hard to illustrate, but are beginning to be seen)

• Little evidence that funds can be diverted. (AKA people who want to support wildlife in the UK do not want their money to go elsewhere)

What are some of the safety and health concerns associated with wildlife care?

• Physical trauma:

- kicks

- bites

- scratches

• Zoonotic disease risks

• Risks to:

- general public

- volunteers

- wildlife rescue centre staff

- veterinary staff.

• Responsibility from first contact.

• Must provide good advice to the person or individual who contacts you

How can we control human risks in regard to wild animal care?

• Limit those at risk:

• staff

• volunteers

0 general public

• Provide suitable training, risk assessments and SOPs:

• staff

• volunteers

• Provide suitable facilities, equipment and training:

— PPE

- Handling equipment gloves

- Prophylactic protection → vaccination

How can we mitigate the risks of veterinary interventions with wild life?

• Human safety (disease, physical and mental)

• Ensure animal welfare and reduce disease transmission, we do this through:

- Triage

- Disease screening

- Post release monitoring

- Data collection.

What is wildlife triage?

• True wildlife triage situations occur

• More commonly though 'triage' is used to fefer to the: 'initial assessment of a casualty to make a decision to treat or euthanasia'

• Triage in emergency medicine is prioritizing based on which needs care first

• Not all the factors determining wildlife triage are medical ones, other things → location, ability to release, also play into factors

• Triage decisions must be made quickly for welfare reasons (24-48hrs).

What does triage require?

• Good clinical examination

• Diagnostic tests as necessary

• Is treatment possible?

• Can the animal legally be released?

• Are suitable rehabilitation facilities and staff available?

• Are there suitable release sites?

• Is now the right time of year?

What is the importance of disease screening wildlife species?

• Screening for infectious agents prior to release

• Consideration of new and novel infections

• Protect wild populations, domestic livestock and human health

• Blood tests for infectious agents or serology

• Parasitology

• Appropriate treatment.

Why is data collection an issue with wildlife rescues?

• Wildlife rescue takes place internationally

• Positives and negatives for the animals involved

• Wildlife centres are very variable

• Lack of evidence-base

• Limited opportunities for reflection

• Human and animal impacts if we get the information wrong

• Good date collection systems needed

• Scientific analysis and publication.

What is the importance of post-release monitoring?

• Information on the success of wildlife rehabilitation and release is poor

• Approximately 40% of all casualties are released

• Rates are higher in juveniles than adults

• Post release monitoring very limited

• Survival rates and true success of the process (e.g. successful reproduction) unknown in most situations.

Why is it important to post-release monitor (aka what does it tell us)?

• Welfare issues if not successful:

• time in captivity

• upon release.

• Time and resources put into rehabilitation are large

• Monitoring tells us:

• what work

• which casualties are most successful

• what's a disaster.

• Allows us to investigate new methods of rehabilitation and release

• Difficult to define 'success'.

What are some methods of post-release monitoring?

• In House and short term:

- correction fluid, permanent marker, nail varnish etc.

- fur clip.

• In House and long term:

- microchip

- tattoo

- ring, band etc.

• Post release:

- direct observation

- trail cameras

- bait marking

- RFID

- radio tracking (radio, satellite, GPS)

- DNA sampling (hair, faeces).

**Currently still costly and time consuming

Describe the importance of the mental support required for wildlife centre staff.

Working conditions are bad, not a particularly positive environment.

• Jobs working with wildlife are seen as amazing opportunities

• Pay is poor

• Working conditions can be poor

• Hours are long

• No paying clients but do have the general public

• Charity management are often disconnected from animal care staff

• Animal welfare can be a challenge - ethical/moral challenges

• A lot dies or has to be euthanased - compassion fatigue.