Found an animal

Start again › A wild mammal › It is hurt, sick, or cannot move

What the RSPCA says to do

A small animal. The RSPCA says that more often than not the quickest and best way to help a small injured wild animal is to take it to your nearest vet yourself.

A larger animal. The RSPCA defines larger as bigger than a cat, or a waterbird the size of a gull or bigger, a bird of prey, or a sea bird. For those it says to call 0300 123 8960, and to make a note of the location.

If you do pick it up. The RSPCA says to use a box, to wear gloves, to keep your face away from the animal, and to wash your hands afterwards. It says to avoid any injuries or open wounds.

The RSPCA says a vet may decide that euthanasia is the best thing for the animal. It describes that as a difficult decision but often in the interest of an animal that is suffering. This site does not take a view on it.

Source: RSPCA: injured and sick wild animals. Quoted in substance and linked in full.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 places a duty of care on a person responsible for an animal. Picking up an injured wild animal to take it to a vet does not make you responsible for it in that sense. Read section 4.

Organisations that take wild mammals in

Where are you?

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland

East Yorkshire Hedgehog Rescue

East Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

Happy Hedgehog Haven

North Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

Hedgehog Cottage Rescue

East Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

Hedgehog Helpline

South Wales · Unknown never confirmed

https://www.facebook.com/hedgehoghelpline/

Hedgehogs at Holme

East Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

Herbie Hedgehog Rescue

Berkshire · Unknown never confirmed

https://www.facebook.com/herbiehedgehogrescue/

Lucky Hedgehog Rescue

East Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

National Fox Welfare Society

UK · Unknown never confirmed

https://www.nfws.org.uk/

Pickering Hedgehog Rescue

North Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue

Yorkshire · Unknown never confirmed

No contact recorded

The Fox Project

South East · Unknown never confirmed

https://foxproject.org.uk/

Wild Hogs Hedgehog Rescue

Gloucestershire · Unknown never confirmed

https://www.facebook.com/Hodgehegs/

Ranked by nation, not by distance: this directory records the region an organisation covers, not where it is, and inventing a location for a real organisation is not something this site will do. Distance ranking arrives with the postcode dataset. Capacity is shown only where the organisation itself confirmed it — “unknown” means nobody has said, not that it is full. Ring before you travel.

What this page is

Every instruction here is the RSPCA’s or the law’s, named and linked. None of it is this site’s own advice, and there is none to give: the people who can help are a vet, the RSPCA, and the organisations listed. If something here disagrees with what a vet tells you, the vet is in front of the animal and this page is not.

Last reviewed 23 August 2026. In an emergency the RSPCA’s line is 0300 123 8960.