Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Membership Applications
  1. Applications for associate membership will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the Associate Member is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances such as moving jobs, change of contact details you must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
2. Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Membership is £15 per person per calendar year starting on 1st April. Associate Membership will be activated at point of approval of the application but payment must be received within 30 days of application.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the member’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, Associate Membership charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
Individual Associate Membership rights and responsibilities.
  1. Associate individual non-voting membership of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Members do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. Associate membership belongs to the individual and not to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved by the member and their organisation. You will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Member’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone else to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Member benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  2. Associate Member benefits may change without notice.
  3. Associate Members are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Member logo (not the Associate Organisation logo) for the purposes of self-promotion, but not for the promotion of a wider organisation.
  4. If an Associate Member is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 4.3 membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Member from renewing membership if the Member brings the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Member is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
6. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Organisation Membership (AOM) Applications
  1. Applications for AOM will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the AOM is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances the AOM must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
  4. Associate Organisations are required to provide evidence of engagement in external staff and/or volunteer development relevant to wildlife rehabilitation (this must be external to the associate organisation but does not have to be a BWRC event). BWRC reserves the right to withhold/ withdraw membership in the absence of adequate evidence of CPD (a minimum of one event every two years).
2. Associate Organisation Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Organisation Membership costs £75 per organisation per calendar year starting on 1st April. Membership will be activated once the application has been approved and the first payment has been received.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the AOM’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, AOM charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
3. Associate Membership Rights
  1. AOM of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Organisations do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. AOM belongs to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved within the Associate Organisation. The Organisation will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Organisation’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone from outside of the organisation to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Organisations are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Organisation logo for the purposes of self-promotion on any of their organisational materials, including website.
  2. Associate Organisations are entitled to purchase an unlimited number of tickets for BWRC events at the membership price, providing that those tickets are for the exclusive use of paid staff or regular volunteers for the Associate Organisation
  3. BWRC will provide e-mail notifications to up to 10 e-mail addresses within the associate organisation. The associate organisation is then free to circulate BWRC notifications to other staff and volunteer members of the associate organisation.
  4. BWRC may agree to promote events organised by the Associate Organisation if asked to do so, at the discretion of the BWRC board of trustees
  5. AOM benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  6. AOM benefits may change without notice.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Organisation from renewing membership if the Associate Organisation risks bringing the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Organisation is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
  3. If an Associate Organisation is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 5.1 and 5.2, above membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
1. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

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Ethics

Wild animals are as they are – anatomically, physiologically, immunologically and behaviourally – as a result of the continuing process of natural selection of those best-adapted to the environment, and we should be wary of interfering with this process.

However, many wild animal casualties are due to man’s very recent (in evolutionary terms) changes to the environment, and may be caused by for example: road traffic accidents, oil spillage at sea, collisions with high tension wires, and poisoning by environmental contaminants. In these cases the argument for rehabilitation is particularly strong.

Concern for animal welfare and species conservation underlie efforts to treat wild animals and restore them to the wild. Whilst, in some cases, the restoration of an animal to the wild may benefit both the individual and the species, there are circumstances when neither animal welfare nor conservation are served by attempts to rehabilitate.

Careful thought needs to be given to each case and the purpose of these documents is to provide some guidelines about ethical and legal aspects of wild animal treatment and rehabilitation.

The Ethics of Wild Animal Treatment and Rehabilitation

This is a very difficult subject and opinions differ widely about what is and is not a justifiable level of intervention in the fate of individuals and thus the population dynamics of their species.

A good first principle which also guides medical and veterinary practitioners, but which also applies here, is “first, do no harm.”

There are several ways in which inappropriate rehabilitation attempts may also do harm – either to the individual involved, to others of its own species, to other species, or to the environment. It is important that these possibilities, examples which are listed below, are considered:

  • If the animal is not fit when released, and suffers as a result
  • If a fit animal is released into an inhospitable environment (e.g. one in which food is scarce, or in which all territories are already occupied)
  • If a released animal carries an infectious disease, which could spread into the wild population of it’s own or other species
  • If it is a genetically distinct strain from those in the area where it is released, in which case its offspring may be less adapted to the local environment
  • If it is a non-indigenous species which may damage the ecosystem
  • If it displaces a resident of the same species, to the latter’s detriment.

The welfare issues (points 1 and 2) are the most immediate, and perhaps the most easily judged, and must be carefully considered in each case. The genetic arguments are probably of little relevance in most cases involving common species, because rehabilitated animals are unlikely to form more than a tiny proportion of the breeding population. The potential for introducing infectious disease into the wild population demands consideration because of the opportunities for cross-species disease spread in wild animal hospitals, and the effects of introducing disease into wild populations could be serious. Both genetic and disease hazards could be particularly relevant when rehabilitating an individual far from the site where it was captured.

Rehabilitation of wild animal casualties can for these reasons be harmful, and these considerations must be seriously addressed.

The law permits taking sick or injured animals for treatment, although in the case of birds, only if the intention is that they are released when cured (see note on legal aspects below).

The preceding paragraphs point out that treatment and rehabilitation of injured or sick wild animals is not, in all cases, the kindest or wisest course of action. Practical and economic constraints alone dictate that not all rescued individuals of all species can be treated and rehabilitated. Maintenance in captivity or euthanasia are humane alternatives. Some circumstances under which rescue, treatment and rehabilitation may benefit the individual, and/or its own or other species are listed below:

  • If the individual, having been restored to complete fitness, is successfully reintroduced into habitat that can support it, without compromising the success of other wild individuals. That is, if the wild population is smaller than that which the environment can sustain (as may occur after a ‘die-off’ due to bad weather, a disease epidemic, environmental contamination, or persecution); or
  • If what is learned in the process of treatment and rehabilitation may subsequently be of value in the care of individuals of rare and endangered species in the future.

Three criteria should be addressed before embarking on treatment and rehabilitation, namely; whether or not the attempt will improve welfare, conservation, or knowledge. From the welfare viewpoint, it is not easy to judge whether treatment and rehabilitation is preferable to humane euthanasia. Even when successful, treatment is unlikely to be accomplished without any fear, pain or stress.

The welfare of the individual must be prime consideration, but it is appropriate to consider also the conservation status of the species.

With the exception of a few rare British species, rescue and rehabilitation is unlikely to have direct beneficial or harmful effects on population dynamics. However the rescue, treatment, and rehabilitation of wild animals provides an excellent opportunity to learn about their diseases, management, medical care, and husbandry, which may contribute to conservation in the future. This time and level of organisation required to collect, analyse, and publish results, and thus capitalise on the work in this way should not be underestimated.

Preventative Wildlife Medicine

It is perhaps a small step from treating the common causes of diseases and injury in casualty animals, to considering how these ills might be prevented. If the cause is man-made, for example environmental pollution, then steps should be taken to correct the situation.

It is probably not justifiable, on the other hand, to interfere with the epidemiology of ‘natural’ diseases by, for example, vaccination or routine anthelminthic treatment of free-living animals, unless this forms part of a scheme to prevent disease in man or his domestic livestock (e.g. vaccination of badgers against tuberculosis), or perhaps to intervene to protect an endangered population (e.g. vaccination of mountain gorillas against measles).