RSPCA dealing with emergencies only during coronavirus outbreak

The animal charity, which has a base at Dorrington near Shrewsbury, said it will carry on looking after creatures already in its care, but from March 25 it is unable to accept new patients from members of the public.

The charity said it is still providing help to thousands of animals across England and Wales and an emergency only service in the wake of government advice.

RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood said: “Despite most of the country staying at home there are still animals which need our help and I’m so incredibly thankful for frontline officers helping animals in emergency situations, our hospital workers for providing emergency treatment and our centre staff and volunteers who are giving love and affection to the hundreds of animals in our care.

“We’ve taken steps to make sure that we are dealing with emergency cases only so we can play our part in stopping the spread of this virus and safeguard our staff and volunteers.

“We rely on the public’s help and we would ask them to only call our helpline in an emergency and visit our website for all other inquiries.”

Network

The charity - which has a team of frontline officers, 17 animal centres, four wildlife centres including Gonsal Farm in Dorrington, four animal hospitals and shops - said its network must close to the public until further notice.

It said from 25 March no animals can be sent out on adoption or fostering. And no animals can be admitted from the public, including from the wild.

"We know these are really worrying times for everyone and I hope hearing that we are still helping animals is a little piece of good news.

"We know many people will be financially worse off as a result of this crisis but if anyone is in a position to make a donation to help our services continue we would really appreciate it," Mr Sherwood added.