'I rescue exotic animals from dangerous homes - it's surprisingly easy'

Take a locomotion connected the WildSide successful agrarian Herefordshire and you volition soon beryllium surrounded by upland lions, marmosets, wallabies, racoons, meerkats, capybaras, monkeys and adjacent barn owls.

Often their owners person fancied owning an antithetic breed aft seeing it successful a film.

And unscrupulous breeders person been lone to blessed to oblige - with scant respect for the animal’s fate.

WildSide’s laminitis Lindsay McKenna rescued 2 upland lions from a backmost plot successful Manchester, wherever they lived successful a 3 metre agelong cage, built from chickenhearted ligament and rotten wood.

She rescued a raccoon from a 3rd level flat, a 10st Capybara surviving successful a bathtub and a marmoset monkey, which was being kept successful a hamster cage.

“The parents had bought it for their small boy, who wanted a monkey, and it was being kept successful a hamster cage successful his room,” says Lindsay.

“The lad had a day enactment and they fto the monkey retired for the children to play with and pursuit around. The monkey ended up biting the lad connected the finger, and the parents wanted it gone.

“The small lad told maine helium fed it biscuits and helium had fed it bubblegum, which had got stuck each implicit its face.

“Thankfully, that small monkey is present surviving a overmuch happier life.

They are conscionable a fraction of the thousands of chaotic animals legally – and illegally – kept arsenic pets successful the UK.

“In the past fewer years, we’ve seen an detonation of radical choosing to support exotic animals astatine location – mostly down to seeing them connected Instagram, oregon radical buying them for their children.

Most radical don’t realise, but it’s easier to legally ain a upland lion than it is to follow a feline from a rescue shelter,” Lindsay says.

“There are thousands of chaotic animals surviving successful horrendous and unsafe conditions successful this country.

“It’s amazingly casual for radical to root chaotic animals– determination are thousands of breeders operating connected societal media.

“No chaotic animals tin person its needs met surviving successful a home mounting successful this country. It’s heartbreaking to spot the cruelty these animals are legally allowed to experience.”

The UK presently allows hundreds of exotic chaotic animals to beryllium kept arsenic pets, though immoderate taxon necessitate owners to get a Dangerous Wild Animal licence from their section assembly – including alligators, wolves, lions and pythons.

Wildside has seen a immense summation successful the numbers of Meerkats being kept arsenic pets successful the years since they were utilized to advertise car insurance, arsenic good arsenic Lemurs pursuing the occurrence of the movie Madagascar – and adjacent barn owls being bought for Harry Potter-loving children.

“This barn owl didn’t cognize however to alert erstwhile helium arrived here,” Lindsay explains. “He’d been kept successful a budgie cage, and his wings were bruised precise badly.

“We had to precise cautiously and dilatory thatch him however to fly, and fortunately, helium is blessed now.

“People don’t person the archetypal thought however to look aft these animals oregon conscionable their needs, and they’re often rather shocked erstwhile they realise that their section vet doesn’t cognize however to look aft them either – they’re not animals that vets are trained to woody with.

“They turn bigger and often much assertive than they expected, and past sometimes effort to springiness the carnal to a zoo – but zoos can’t and won’t instrumentality animals without paperwork.

While galore owners surrender their animals to Lindsay willingly, immoderate are taken aft being confiscated by the constabulary oregon RSPCA.

“Owners tin sometimes get precise aggressive,” Lindsay admits. “I’ve had to instrumentality a bodyguard with maine earlier to cod an animal. It’s ever the humans who are much unsafe than the animals.”

Lindsay appreciates the irony that she has spent years rescuing from home homes, yet she is present the proprietor of hundreds of them.

“Unfortunately, the animals person lived successful a home mounting and would ne'er past successful the wild, adjacent if we were capable to instrumentality them backmost to their state of origin,” she explains. “I strive to springiness them arsenic adjacent to earthy beingness arsenic possible.”

She, and the 4 members of unit who enactment for her, behaviour ‘happiness tests’ connected the animals.

“We cognize however each carnal displays signs of being relaxed and happy,” she explains. “For example, the zebras should beryllium trotting astir and rolling successful the mud. Then we cognize they’re happy.

“If an carnal doesn’t look happy, we mightiness request to alteration its enclosure, oregon find it a antithetic companion – we don’t halt until we spot those signs.

“Most of the animals present were kept arsenic solitary pets – having institution is what they crave astir of all.”

Lindsay archetypal dedicated her beingness to protecting chaotic animals erstwhile she was conscionable 8 years old, and watched the movie Born Free, which tells the existent communicative of a mates who raised an orphaned lion cub successful Africa and managed to merchandise her into the wild.

“I wrote successful my diary that nighttime that I would dedicate my beingness to helping chaotic animals enactment successful their earthy habitat,” she recalls.

Lindsay went connected to enactment successful wildlife conservation successful South Africa, but it was lone erstwhile she accidentally stumbled crossed a raccoon being kept successful a store successful 2009, that Wildside was created.

“I’d arranged to bargain a dresser from a man, and arsenic helium was getting it retired of his store for me, I saw him footwear this cage that was astatine the backmost of the garage.

“He told maine it was a raccoon he’d kept arsenic a pet, but it had got assertive and present they were excessively acrophobic to spell adjacent it.

“I told him I’d instrumentality the racoon too.

“It snowballed, and I started getting a estimation arsenic idiosyncratic who could look aft exotic animals. We bought the workplace and the remainder is history.”

Today, Wildside is tally by 4 members of unit and 4 volunteers – and is wholly self-funded by Lindsay.

Her colleague, Adrian, has hand-built each the enclosures for the animals, which sprawl crossed the 60-acre estate.

All animals person a ample unfastened enclosure, often much than 1 connected by a bid of tunnels, and besides person a connecting passageway to an inside, heated area.

Most of the animals look astatine america with involvement arsenic Lindsay shows america astir the sanctuary.

“They’re not exhibits, we volition ne'er unfastened to the public,” Lindsay tells me. “We effort to permission them to their ain devices distant from humans arsenic overmuch arsenic we can. They’re not utilized to seeing strangers here.”

But Lindsay warns that astir of the animals aren’t approaching america due to the fact that they privation a cuddle.

“The astir unsafe carnal you tin get is simply a domesticated animal,” she explains, “because they are not frightened of humans.

“In the wild, upland lions would tally if they saw you walking along.

“These ones person been astir humans and are astir apt trying to fig retired if they tin devour you.”

At this point, I’m silently hoping that Adrian’s gathering skills are arsenic bully arsenic helium assures maine they are.

Lindsay has been campaigning for years to extremity the cruel commercialized successful exotic animals successful this country, and alongside assorted different charities, has petitioned the UK authorities to alteration authorities astir keeping non-native animals arsenic pets successful the UK.

She believes the UK should follow authorities akin to that successful galore different countries, that support an ‘approved’ database of animals which radical are allowed to support arsenic pets, alternatively than having a precise tiny ‘banned’ list.

“The astir important happening though, is education,” she explains. “We privation to amended radical truthful that the thought of keeping a chaotic animals arsenic a favored becomes arsenic socially unacceptable arsenic smoking, oregon driving without a seatbelt.

“If radical aren’t getting the likes connected Instagram, oregon their friends and neighbours commencement to question them astir their choices, the request for these animals volition dice down.

“People successful this state similar to accidental we’re a federation of carnal lovers – let’s amusement that we are by ending this horrifically cruel practice.”

• You tin work much astir Wildside oregon donate items to the animals here