Forestry Commission rejects charity’s offer to run a 24-hour callout service
An animal rescue charity has been banned from accessing Forestry Commission land over the weekend to retrieve injured wildlife.
A Wild Life With Animals has been rescuing animals in the Forest of Dean for the past four years.
But now its founder, Scott Passmore, has been told that he is not allowed to use the organisation’s ambulance to access the woods.
The Forestry Commission employs rangers who work from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Passmore said that he had offered to run a 24-hour callout service for free, as leaving injured animals over the weekend was “inhumane”.
In a statement, the Forestry Commission warned Mr Passmore against going onto land it managed.
It said that he may be “in breach of the Forestry Commission Bylaws 1982 and that Welfare of Animals (transport) order 1997 by an individual causing suffering to an injured wild animal, even by taking it to a vet.”
A Forestry Commission spokesperson said that it employed staff "to deal with animal welfare issues" on its land but "response may need to wait until staff are available".
They added that while they respected Mr Passmore's "good intentions" they would not grant permission to recover animals.
Mr Passmore told the BBC he would be writing to Defra to ask whether the Forestry Commission might be in breach of animal welfare laws.
Image (C) Jonathan Billinger
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