Blonde Hedgehog

Description

Alderney Animal Welfare Society (AAWS) was set up on the residents’ return to the island after WWII. It was founded in 1953 by a nurse who was moved by the lack of provision of care and the poor welfare of the animals which had been left during the German occupation.

AAWS is run by a committee of volunteers and is staffed by permanent full time Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs), with support from a Guernsey veterinary surgeon. The charity provides its own out of hours service, offering 24-hour care, 365 days a year, for pets, wildlife and livestock. This includes looking after pets in people’s homes and offering respite and emergency care; helping to rehome animals if someone becomes unwell or passes away; and providing boarding facilities for both cats and dogs on site.

Kelly Huitson RVN, of AAWS, said: - “The charity saw a significant increase of year-on year admissions during the end of 2024, specifically September-November, with very few hedgehogs surviving to be released, which affected blonde and brown hedgehogs equally. This coincided with a period of significantly wet weather, though we were unsure if it was down to parasite burden, weather pressure, or an external factor we were unaware of.

“There has previously been no real research on the conditions, diseases and parasites of Alderney hedgehogs, although we routinely check in the clinic for parasites of any unwell ones brought into our care. We wanted to understand the challenges we faced in more detail and with the help of a small grant from The States of Alderney, as well as support and guidance from the States Veterinary Officer, Garden Animal Health and Vale Hedgehog Hospital, we sent samples to a number of laboratories to look at parasite presence, viral load, and histopathology on organs of those hedgehogs which had unfortunately passed away.

“We are currently collating the data and hope to share the findings soon, though it does appear that the significant death rates we saw in late 2024 were due to high parasite numbers, which may have been exacerbated by the weather conditions.

“We will need to continue this research as conditions change and monitor the presence and prevalence of parasites in our hedgehogs to appropriately continue to treat them.”

Specification

Date of Issue	23rd April 2025
Designer	Chloe Sarre
Printer	Bpost
Values	69p, 92p, £1.37, £1.47, £1.81, £1.90
Process	Offset Lithography
Stamp Size	30mm deep x 40mm wide
Paper	Tru White Litho NEW 110g
Sheet	10
Perforation	1.1 x 1.667
Cylinder	A

Blonde Hedgehog