Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue Statement 31/12/23

A statement from Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue:

We wish to release this statement to clear up slanderous, egregious, and detrimental statements being again posted online about our rescue and volunteers, and while we never wanted to post this, we feel you should be made aware of what we have faced, as a result, in 2023.

For this statement, we would first like to discuss the most prominent and, rightly so, worrying allegation for those that support our volunteer work.

Many long-term followers will remember posts published online by an ex-volunteer who retired in 2022. These posts suggested that funds donated to our rescue were being spent in a fraudulent manner and that people should cancel their support with immediate effect. As expected, this had a huge impact on our rescue, both financially and in terms of public backlash. This publication sparked an investigation by the Humberside Police Fraud Team and the Barclays Counter Fraud Team. Both organisations progressed in a long and diligent investigation, and as you would expect of our rescue and team, all transactions were proven to be legitimate; therefore, both investigations were closed.

Although the findings of the investigations have been relayed by the police to those posting the statements online, they continue to publish false accusations online in an attempt to cause reputable harm.

This is where we would like to say that this statement ends, but unfortunately, it isn’t.

During the process of the police and bank investigation, vet practices and other rescues across the area started to receive phone calls demanding they stop working with us or providing any care to animals we brought to them. This meant that, for a short period, we had to cease all rescue operations. Without vets or even rescues for animals that we do not have facilities for, it was not ethical to continue accepting injured wildlife into our care. Thankfully, after discussing the situation with the veterinary practices and a lot of trust-building, we were able to get back access to the veterinary care required for wildlife rehabilitation. We also worked closely with other rescues to assure them that the allegations made were unfounded.

During and after the investigation, we have become victims of violence, harassment, aggression, arson, and assaults.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue Van: Even though our wildlife van was funded by the rescue, it was demanded by the ex-volunteer and their family that it not stay with the rescue and instead be taken to them for their use. As you’d expect, we kept records of the proof of purchase, provided these to the police, and the van remains with Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue. Since then, our van has been attacked on multiple occasions. These attacks first started with all of the windows on our van being smashed; this then progressed to multiple attempts at arson. – Thankfully, the attempts at arson were caught early by volunteers or their neighbors. Unfortunately for one neighbor, their van was broken into, set on fire, and destroyed. We assume that, in the absence of our van being outside, the people targeting the van believed we may have had a second van and therefore targeted this one instead. Our van has since had its front windscreen and passenger window smashed again.

Personal property: Attacks didn’t stop at wildlife rescue equipment; the family home of our lead volunteer and their parents was attacked on multiple occasions, destroying glass windows and surrounding frames. Their personal vehicle, which is also used as a volunteer first responder car for the ambulance service, had its tyres slashed and four windows smashed on separate occasions. Another vehicle, owned by another volunteer, also had its tyres slashed. These repairs have been paid for by the volunteers themselves and have not been paid for by the rescue.

Threats to life and assaults: On more recent posts, those who spoke out about these false accusations were faced with comments such as “Keep your head out of what’s not your business you little ***** weasel or you’ll need someone caring for you!!” by the ex-volunteer’s family. Equally, while in Cleethorpes, our lead rescuer and friend were approached by a person connected to the family and assaulted. This person was served a community resolution order by Humberside Police for the assault.

RSPCA: As the ex-volunteer continued to take in injured wildlife in concerning numbers, the RSPCA became involved, and while we cannot comment on their investigation, we can disclose that we have agreed with the RSPCA to attend court as a witness, should they wish to progress with the case further.

Fundraising boxes: When attending shops that were known to host fundraising boxes for Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue, we found that some had been stolen. With witnesses coming forward to the police, this ex-volunteer was served with a community resolution order for the theft of fundraising boxes. There has since been another theft, which is an ongoing police investigation. We have now changed our fundraising boxes and improved their security.

So, what’s happened in the background?

For our lead rescuer, he and his family have been subject to ‘target hardening’ by Humberside Police, which is when a victim is considered at considerable risk of damage or violence. The police have provided police-monitored panic alarms, a CCTV camera that is linked directly to the control room has been erected on a lamppost outside, fire alarm systems linked directly to the fire service, along with a few other safety measures such as regular police patrols and a dedicated community police officer who regularly checks in.

For incidents relating to the damage, both the ex-volunteer and a family member were arrested, and a phone was confiscated by the police during the arrest, but the owner of the device refused to provide the pin for it to be searched by the police. Multiple investigations remain ongoing.

We want to make you aware that we will not back down to bullies, we will not lose ourselves, and we will never jeopardise our care for wildlife because someone wishes to sabotage us with slanderous and false claims. Our volunteers—all of them—are fantastic! Our rescue’s committee members have been nothing but supportive, as have the vets and rescues who have worked with us on any of our vulnerabilities. With all of this going on in the background, you can see without doubt that our volunteers are dedicated to the wildlife we serve day in day out. We will continue.  

We have stayed quiet about the hardship we’ve faced in the background, but as these posts continue to circulate, we will continue to bring light to what is actually happening.

Now, what we need from you (please) is that if you see one of these posts, don’t justify your time in a response. Simply report them to Facebook or, if there is a threat of violence, to the police.

Make your judgements based on our actions, not what you see posted online by someone with malicious intent. We’re sure the person responsible will soon receive a screenshot of this statement sent to them, and we’re sure they’ll relish in their actions, but we will never stoop as low as them.

Going into 2024, we will not entertain any abuse; we are volunteers, and we do this for free! If we spot abuse or fall victim to abuse, it will not be tolerated. We give all our volunteers permission to block or remove anyone on our social media who wishes to abuse us. We do not deserve it; we do not deserve what has happened to us in 2023.

This concludes our statement.