East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service says its volunteers are working up to 15 hours a day to cope with the number of casualties brought into its casualty care unit at Horsebridge.
The charity's founder, Trevor Weeks, said, "All the ma
in organisations we use are telling us they are full and one centre is no longer answering its rescue line as it cannot cope with the calls and has no space left.
"Our rescue centre is constantly turning over casualties and farming them out to our dedicated volunteers who are doing a marvellous job but we have now dealt with around 500 more incidents than this time last year."
WRAS has continually appealed for help to expand and is looking to raise funds to help cover the additional cost of dealing with the casualties.
Tim McKenzie, WRAS's casualty care manager, said, "We are run off our feet trying to deal with casualties but it is very hard work and we are all working 12 to 15-hour days as a result."
Trevor added, "We try our hardest to get ambulances out to the calls which need our help and are now prioritising calls.
"We urge members of the public to try and transport casualties to their local veterinary centre if it is safe to do so.
"We need to concentrate our limited rescources on the incidents that really need our help.
"If people want our service to continue and deal with this huge increase in work then we need much more support and funding coming in to help cover the costs and expenses of running our service."
Trevor said the casualty care centre at Horsebridge is dealing with hundreds of casualties each month but is frequently full and its volunteers stretched to the limit.
He added the problem was exacerbated by people bringing in fledgling birds that didn't need to be looked after.
Trevor said, "All fledgling birds leave their nests before they can fly and as a result will spend anything from a couple of days to a week on the ground learning to fly.
"The parents spread their young around so if a cat or fox finds one it doesn't automatically find the others.
"These birds should not be picked up if there are cats or foxes about."
WRAS says it is in need of a professional fundraiser to help cover running costs and fund an expansion of its work.
Trevor said, "We are getting a very good reputation but something will have to give if the number of casualties continue to rise like this.
"I am full of admiration for the volunteers who work for WRAS. I am so proud of them and the work they achieve.
"We just need the public's support to help expand and deal with the greater volume of work.
"More than half the calls we receive are from people who have been turned away from other centres or been told that the animal will just be put to sleep if they take it in."
If you want to make a donation to the charity, please send a cheque or postal order payable to East Sussex WRAS to its treasurer at Ash Cottage, 73 Friday Street, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 8AY or make a donation online at www.wildlifeambulance.org
