Legalities of treating wildlife in UK veterinary practice
Abstract
Many different species of wildlife will be presented to veterinary practices. In addition to providing care for these patients, veterinary nurses need to be aware of the legal aspects that apply. Legislation relating to wildlife species is particularly relevant to taking animals from the wild, keeping wild animals and birds in care, releasing them back into the wild and notifiable diseases. Following devolution, there are some differences in legislation in different parts of the UK. Specific species, particularly endangered species, have more detailed legislation which also needs to be adhered to. While lay people may have the best of intentions, they need to be aware that all veterinary care needs to follow Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Surgeon's Act 1966, and the best interests of the animals must be central to all care that is given.
Treating wildlife in UK general practice is commonplace. Many practices perform this service on an occasional basis, but increasing numbers of wildlife charities and rescue centres mean that more animals and birds are receiving treatment and care. With this comes the responsibility of understanding not only the medical issues but also the legal issues behind treating wildlife, for example some species are considered a pest species and not native so release back into the wild therefore may not be an option. Alternatively, some disease legislation may require notification of government authorities. Although much of the core wildlife legislation is based on UK-wide Acts, since devolution there have been numerous amendments made and in some cases entirely new legislation created on both sides of the borders between England, Wales and Scotland. Useful resources for specific changes in wildlife legislation can be found on the DEFRA webpages for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) for Northern Ireland, England and Wales and the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) webpages for Scotland.
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