'£70k hedgehog surgery could make huge difference'

An animal rescue charity believes building a £70,000 operating theatre will "make a huge difference" to the survival rate of the hedgehogs it has long cared for.

Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue has to take the mammals on a 52-mile-round (84km) trip from Stonham to a vet in Colchester when they need surgery.

Its team of 55 volunteers have helped to patch up about 2,500 of their prickly patients back to good health since being founded in 2010.

The charity now wants to build a state-of-the-art operating theatre so the mammals that need to go under the knife can be treated in-house.

Chair of trustees Paula Baker said this could ultimately increase the chances of survival for its most critically unwell hedgehogs.

"We are very lucky because we have a superb vet on board and she is superb at surgery, so most of our survival rates are good," she said.

"But I just think it's going to make the huge difference to those one or two that are a little bit weaker, and overall I think it'll be cost effective as well."

According to The Wildlife Trust, hedgehog populations in Britain are declining and are listed as vulnerable on the nation's red list of mammals.

Numbers of hedgehogs have fallen by up to 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural spots since 2000, although there is no one cause for the drop-off.

Baker, whose charity takes in about 300 hedgehogs every year, said the situation did not seem to be getting any better.

"We are seeing a lot of very, very sick hedgehogs. They are much sicker, and we are seeing many, many more horrendous injuries," she added.

"So, it's really important we are able to spread the word because we do believe passionately that each hedgehog should have individually appropriate care.

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