Volgograd shelter rejects accusation over orphaned hedgehogs

Volunteers at the Ptichy Ostrov (Bird Island) wildlife rehabilitation center have been accused of refusing to help baby hedgehogs left without their mother. According to the center«s director, however, the volunteers gave the necessary recommendations remotely, which the woman who found the hedgehogs did not follow, demanding instead an immediate visit to the site.

Recall that yesterday, on August 9, a woman found five small baby hedgehogs left without their mother at a dacha in the Sovetsky district of Volgograd.

“They are still blind, their spines are already gray but still soft,” the woman said. “Their mother dug a hole under the summer garage, they crawl out every morning and cry, my son feeds them from a pipette, but we are not professionals, we do not know how to do it properly or what needs to be done, we are afraid the hedgehogs will simply die! We work, and they need to be fed every 2–3 hours! Please understand us correctly, we are not getting rid of them, we just feel very sorry for five living souls.”

On the morning of August 10, it became known that the hedgehogs had been saved. However, the woman«s accusations against the Ptichy Ostrov shelter did not go unnoticed. She had earlier told a V1.RU correspondent that the volunteers offered to bring the hedgehogs to the center on the evening of the day they were found. But something fell through, and the volunteers advised her to feed the animals on her own.

“Hedgehogs need to be fed every 2–3 hours, but we work 12-hour shifts… <…> I wrote to her (the director of Ptichy Ostrov. — Ed. note) in an emotional way. She tells me: ‘We have no one to feed them,’ she already refused. At first they promised, they led me by the nose for two days: either bring them, or call back. I am saving animals, looking for help, and they lead me by the nose, they deceive me!”

A post refuting the woman«s words appeared the day before in the Ptichy Ostrov community. According to the center»s director, Alina Yerina, they did not refuse help but began looking for volunteers and gave clear recommendations: feed the babies goat«s milk at least once every two hours, otherwise they would not survive until transfer.

“We also warned that the mother hedgehog might simply have gone hunting, that this is normal behavior, and that the cubs should not be taken without necessity,” Alina Yerina writes. “Our volunteer and I conducted the dialogue in parallel. But instead of following the recommendations, the woman wrote: ‘I won«t be able to feed them, unfortunately.’ And she immediately switched to demands, and then to rudeness in the chat and over the phone.”

From the correspondence between the woman and Ptichy Ostrov:

Volunteers: Put the babies in a box, keep them warm.

The woman who found the hedgehogs: They are all lying in the burrow on top of each other.

Volunteers: Is the mother not coming?

The woman who found the hedgehogs: I am just leaving and I cannot leave them.

Volunteers: You still need to provide additional warmth.

The woman who found the hedgehogs: I have not seen her [the hedgehogs« mother]. I feel very sorry for them, they are very small. I cannot leave them, I will only come back at the weekend. Can»t you take them?

<…>

The woman who found the hedgehogs: Good morning, today my son looked: the baby hedgehogs came out into the street again, and the mother hedgehog did not come to them. The food we put out has not been touched. What time will you be on site so that I can send the hedgehogs to you?

Volunteers: Then everything by phone or ‘Max’, here a volunteer answers who redirects inquiries; regarding the delivery of animals, contact directly.

The woman who found the hedgehogs: I do not understand why I am being passed around with the hedgehogs. You are a wildlife rehabilitation center. I have no words.

Volunteers: Unfortunately, everyone is extremely overloaded… We will not be able to help you with anything. Only with consultation on feeding.

The woman who found the hedgehogs: Then I will write a review about how I was fobbed off with promises over the phone. And you should probably have been ashamed to tell me ‘don«t expect help.’ If they die, it will be on your conscience and your center»s.

Volunteers: Everything was described to you in detail yesterday, you did not follow our recommendations. Do not talk to us about conscience; while the animal is on your property, it is your responsibility.

The center«s director insists that the volunteers were overloaded, and that the woman received full consultation while they prepared to take in the hedgehogs when possible. In the end, however, they refused because the volunteers encountered rudeness.

“When the tone became disrespectful and threatening, I made a decision: we do not take animals from a person who does not feed them herself, does not listen to advice, and at the same time insults our staff,” Alina Yerina writes. “In such cases, even if accepted, the chances of survival are minimal, and we are not obliged to tolerate aggression. We are not a zoo, not a 911 rescue service, and not an order desk. We are people who, in their free time from work and family, save animals. And we demand respect for ourselves. For those who want to save an animal with someone else«s hands — have a conscience at least to speak politely with those who are trying to help you. And if you are not ready to feed, water, and wait — do not shift your helplessness onto others!”