New campaign to help protect injured seal pups in Cornwall this winter
Each pup costs around £2,000 to rehabilitate
A new campaign has launched in Cornwall to help protect injured seal pups this autumn and winter.
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary, based in Gweek, rescues around 75 pups from around the Duchy's coastline each year.
Many are found injured or malnourished and need to be rehabilitated, which costs around £2,000 per pup.
But the sanctuary has faced £700,000 in losses as a result of the pandemic and bosses are worried about the financial cost of the season ahead.
Now a number of celebrities are backing the Cornish sanctuary and its winter campaign, Put Pups First, as it braces for a busy season.
After an incredibly busy summer in Cornwall and grey seal pupping season underway, officials are also concerned about the increased danger of seal disturbance.
Disturbed pups may end up being rejected by their mum and starve or get injured while trying to flee.
With the help of wildlife film maker Doug Allan, wildlife presenter Megan McCubbin, Spring Watch presenter Hannah Stitfall and surfer and influencer Lucie Rose Donlan, the sanctuary has created a video campaign which will help members of the public know what to do if they come across a seal pup in the wild.
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary has been an animal rescue facility for more than 60 years, helping seal pups in need from around the coastline.
As the only seal sanctuary in Cornwall, pups rely on the sanctuary to help support them through difficult winters.
With decades of experience, their team of experts are able to give pups the care they need, administering life saving medication or facilitating vital surgery and helping them to learn how to fend for themselves before they can be released back into the wild.
But due to coronavirus, the sanctuary have found themselves struggling and with the pup season ahead, they are asking for help to get them back on track to be able to continue their work.
In the three month long lock down from March to June and now operating with limited capacity due to social distancing over the key summer months, the sanctuary has seen losses of £700,000 much needed funding to get them through another busy pup season.
Pups cost, on average, around £2000 each to rehabilitate and this doesn't include special cases, such as Hope, who was found so entangled in netting she could have died or Ted who need life-saving surgery.
Bosses say that without the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, pups like these wouldn't survive and they rely on people's support to help them continue their work. As the sanctuary rescues 75+ pups per season, the costs soon add up.
'Put Pups First' Just Giving appeal has been set up to aid the Cornish Seal Sanctuary to rescue and rehabilitate pups in need this difficult season.