Ireland's first-ever dedicated wildlife hospital is due to open later this month at the back of a Co Meath pub shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The planned opening of the hospital outside Navan has been described as a “dream come true” by the chair of Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland Heidi Bedell.
The new headquarters behind the Tara na Ri Pub at Garlow Cross will be manned by volunteers and funded by donations, with Ms Bedell appealing for help in transforming the pub’s staff area and outside stables for use.
"We have a large number of foster families nationwide who have been helping out with taking in injured animals for us over the last 12 years but we have always wanted to have a dedicated base to work from," said Ms Bedell.
"It will be the first national non-species hospital, which will also link into support other rescue groups. It's a dream come true.
"It was a case of always working in emergency situations so we put it out there on our social media to look for a site to lease. We had quite a few offers nationwide but this was the most suitable.”
Ms Bedell said her team had been offered the upstairs of the pub for administration and as somewhere the volunteers could sleep overnight.
"There are stables out the back on a half-acre site which we can convert for use for the animals,” she added.
"We would like to say a huge thank you to site owner John McCarthy who has been hugely supportive of us."
The premises comes at a good time, as the group is seeing an increased number of animals rescued as Covid-19 restrictions mean more people out walking the countryside.
There has been a massive increase in the number of wildlife animals rescued or reported to us
"There has been a massive increase in the number of wildlife animals rescued or reported to us because more people are at home and out walking and generally just more aware of their surroundings so notice these things,” Ms Bedell said.
"It's coming into a time when we generally see a lot of cases of injured baby birds, hedgehogs, hares and rabbits, many of whom have become orphaned.
"One of the services we are also hoping to continue is to educate the public to recognise an animal in distress.
"We hope to open under Covid-19 regulations on February 19th but we need help. All we have is bare walls.
"If anyone can help with a few tins of paint or a portabin, or offer roofing services to re-roof the stables, all would be most welcome."
Those who would like to offer help in setting up the wildlife hospital can contact Heidi Bedell at office@wri.ie.
