'Unintentional kidnap' of healthy animals by eager public burdening wildlife hospital

A female hedgehog who was found malnourished and underweight at the newly opened Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland hospital on the grounds of the Tara Na Rí pub in Navan, Co Meath. However, some animals being brought to the hospital are perfectly healthy, according to staff. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Members of the public are “unintentionally kidnapping” healthy animals by bringing them to the national wildlife hospital when they are not injured or abandoned, according to the charity behind the service.

In February, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland opened what is billed as the country’s first wildlife hospital behind the Tara Na Rí pub in Garlow Cross, on the outskirts of Navan, as an “emergency response” to the growing numbers of wildlife animals needing care.