Found an animal
Start again › A seal, whale or dolphin › It is a baby or a young animal, apparently alone
Call British Divers Marine Life Rescue first
BDMLR runs a rescue hotline on 01825 765546, twenty-four hours a day, and dispatches trained Marine Mammal Medics.
A live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise. BDMLR says do not put them back in the sea. It says they may need treatment or a period of recovery before they are fit enough to swim strongly, may be too ill to return at all, and that attempts to return them can prolong their suffering.
A seal on a beach. BDMLR says finding one there does not necessarily mean anything is wrong — seals haul out to rest, digest and raise pups, and after storms or high tides. It asks people to keep a minimum distance of 100 metres, to keep dogs on leads, to stay quiet, and under no circumstances to allow anybody to push a seal back into the sea. A pup still suckling is a poor swimmer, and a mother may abandon a pup that has been interfered with.
Source: British Divers Marine Life Rescue: what to do if…. Quoted in substance and linked in full.
What the RSPCA says to do
The RSPCA says that if a baby animal appears injured or sick, take it to a vet. It says that where an animal seems uninjured, safe and well, the best thing can be to leave it alone, or to watch and wait from a distance — a parent may be nearby.
If it is too large to handle, or is somewhere dangerous such as a busy road, the RSPCA says to call 0300 123 8960.
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.
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 seals, whales and dolphins in
Where are you?
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British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Also listed, without a species recorded
The research these listings came from recorded these organisations as taking wildlife, or several species, without saying which. They are not listed above because this site will not turn “wildlife” into a claim that a particular organisation takes a particular animal. Most are large and long-established. Ring before you travel.
Brinsley Animal Rescue
No contact recorded
The Retreat Animal Rescue
No contact recorded
RSPCA
Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary
No contact recorded
Scottish SPCA
USPCA
Willows Animal Sanctuary
No contact recorded
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 24 August 2026. In an emergency the RSPCA’s line is 0300 123 8960.
This is a description of the law, not legal advice. Every row links to the primary source and carries the date it was last checked. Check the source before relying on it — general licences are reissued each January and commencement dates move.