Hedgehogs are sadly struggling now more than ever as their natural food sources and habitats are diminished. Organisations like Hogwatch Dumbarton Hedgehog Rescue in Scotland are vital for their survival. We spoke to Dawn Sharke who runs the rescue to learn more about the charity and their fundraising.
Increasing demand for the hedgehog rescue
Demand at Hogwatch Dumbarton Hedgehog Rescue soared during the summer and has continued in recent months. Dawn says: “The things having a major impact on hedgehogs are drought, lack of habitat and a significant reduction in their natural food source due to increased use of pesticides and chemicals such as weedkiller. Many gardens are now blocked off with fences, with traditional hedges removed, leaving hedgehogs with nowhere to live in both urban and rural areas of the countryside.”
The rescue has seen a huge increase in calls from local vets and members of the public asking for help after the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), Scotland’s leading animal welfare charity, announced in July that it was going to ‘temporarily’ stop rescuing the majority of small wildlife cases – including hedgehogs. The change came due to a review which found a ‘compliance issue’ relating to the use of pentobarbital, a drug which is used to euthanise animals.
Dawn says the change has had a huge knock-on-effect on the very few Scottish rescue centers like Hogwatch Dumbarton which is run entirely by volunteers. This year the rescue is on track to take in at least 250 hedgehogs and at the time of writing has 44 Hedgehogs under its care.
“There are very few rescue centres here in Scotland so I can be transporting hedgehogs from 100 miles away. In some cases, there will be multiple volunteer drivers who will drive say 25 miles and then pass the hedgehog onto another driver who will bring it to the rescue.
“Whilst we would never want to cause a wild animal the stress of a long journey, our view is that they simply cannot be left to suffer due to not having a rescue centre nearby or just be euthanised by a vet due to a lack of resource. We aim to assist wherever possible,” she says.
Dawn says there has been a huge spike in calls to her rescue in recent months. “The majority of calls we receive are from members of the public who are upset because they’ve found a poorly animal – they’re normally lying on their side out in the daytime clinging onto life. These kind callers desperately want someone to take the hedgehog from them and give them reassurance they’ll be rehabilitated. We very much provide a public service,” she says.
Why more funding is needed
Dawn, who retired from her role as the professional head of training for Network Rail, now runs the rescue full time, and has to fundraise to cover the rescue’s running costs.
She says: “Running costs even though kept to a minimum, regularly run at around £3,000 a month, and the majority of that goes on vet’s fees and medications. There’s also a huge fuel bill – every single critical care and intensive care unit runs on electricity because the hedgehogs need heat while they’re recovering. Then there’s also the cost of food.
“The majority of our support – 99 per cent of it – is the kindness of people’s hearts and donations. At Christmas time we produce our own calendars, and we host fundraising and information stalls throughout the year. We’ve so far received four grants of between £500 to £1500 and applied for more but had no success so far. Some months we have more than £2,000 in vets’ bill.”
Dawn is appealing for more fundraising support from the community to enable the rescue to keep running just as a further influx of Autumn juveniles and baby hedgehogs, known as hoglets, are set to arrive.
“Early summer we see the first hoglets coming in and then we have a second wave which starts to arrive from September. Whilst hedgehogs never seem to have it easy, the babies born in Autumn fair even worse, as the mothers have no choice but to abandon them and concentrate on laying down enough fat reserves to enable their own survival through the winter months in hibernation,” she says.
How easyfundraising has helped
To date Hogwatch Dumbarton has raised more than £1,800 with the help of easyfundraising.
Dawn says: “When I first registered I was really delighted with how quickly the funds were mounting up, especially with travel and holiday bookings. We’ve averaged around £600 a year.
“The money we get from easyfundraising helps us to carry on with our work and provide essentials like food and medication. We go through an awful lot of bedding here so we use it to fund that too.
“It’s a simple site to use when people are shopping online anyway so we promote it as much as possible. I promote it as frequently as I can, especially on social media, but we also do some direct messaging. I am fortunate that I know many of our supporters directly and will regularly send thank you’s and reminders.”
Dawn recently featured in a video all about Hogwatch and the money they received from us during our August 2025 Donation Day. You can watch it on our Youtube channel here.
How you can support Hogwatch Dumbarton Hedgehog Rescue
You can help Dawn and her team continue to be there for hedgehogs in need every time you shop online by signing up as a supporter here.
Are you connected with a cause that could use some extra funding? Raise funds every time people in your local community shop online by registering your cause with easyfundraising.