£3m SSPCA wildlife rescue centre approved

Iain Robertson • Published 8 Sep 2010 09:30 0 Comments

A national wildlife rescue centre is to be based in Clackmannanshire creating more than 20 jobs.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) will develop the facility at the former Devon Equestrian Centre in Fishcross to include a veterinary hospital, aviaries, plus sea pools for sea birds and marine wildlife.

There was a unanimous approval for the SSPCA investment from councillors at the planning committee meeting held last week, and it inspired a volley of superlatives about its “good news” value for the Wee County,

Employment

Fourteen permanent and nine seasonal jobs will be created at the £3 million development.

Scottish SPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said, “We are delighted Clackmannanshire Council has granted planning permission for our new National Wildlife Rescue Centre, subject to the agreement of suspensive conditions.

“Clackmannanshire is an ideal central location for this new centre which will be serving the whole of Scotland and we have been impressed with the dynamic and proactive approach of Clackmannanshire Council towards the project.”

Mike Flynn said the new centre will be able to rescue more animals than its current centre - from hedgehogs to endangered species.

“The Scottish SPCA already rescues and rehabilitates over 3000 wild mammals and birds each year and this new centre will have larger and improved facilities to enable us to care for more wild animals than ever before,” he said.

“We are proud of our commitment to help all sick, injured or ill-treated animals, regardless of whether it is an endangered species or simply a common hedgehog, crow or seagull,”

A number of Clackmannanshire councillors said they hoped the facility would be able to allow local school children access for educational purposes, but the charity say that, unfortunately, due to the nature of its work that won’t be possible.

Hospital

Mike added, “The new facility is essentially an animal hospital, where qualified and experienced staff will be working with injured and sick animals in quiet conditions and with minimal human contact in order for them to be successfully rehabilitated and released back into the wild as truly wild creatures.

“For this reason it is not appropriate to have visitor facilities.

“However, we do intend to install cameras in some of our rehabilitation enclosures to enable us to capture and share our work with supporters and for broadcast to children during our educational visits to primary schools across Scotland.”

Labour councillor George Matchett said, “It’s a fantastic national development on a fantastic site which will see tremendous investment coming into the area.”

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