24 hour Emergency Wardens

The GSPCA operates a 24 hour emergency service manned by a team of dedicated volunteers.

The role of the GSPCA night warden is to respond to calls from the general public, veterinary surgeries and the Police and to come to the aid of any animals in need of urgent assistance. Being a warden is a challenging job and our volunteers receive thorough training and support to enable them to deal with any situation that they may come across. The role requires a calm, confident and compassionate approach to ensure that the best help is given to the animal at the scene while supporting a member of the public in what could be a distressing situation.

It is extremely important that our wardens are allowed to do their job and come to the aid of those is desperate need. Unfortunately we do receive many non essential calls which block our emergency line preventing the real emergencies getting through; potentially putting an animal’s life at risk.  It is vitally important that this phone line is not used for general enquiries and so we would ask that people DO NOT call this out of hours number unless it really is urgent. Instead we would ask people to call the Shelter between 9am and 5pm on 257261.

Calls that we would consider to be emergencies needing immediate assistance would include:

• A road traffic accident involving an animal
• A stray dog or loose horse / livestock
• Injured wildlife

Calls that we would deem non-essential would include:

• Inquiries about boarding
• Needing to rehome an animal
• A lost cat – many wander and usually return by morning
• General veterinary inquires – please contact your veterinary surgeon

We are always looking to increase our numbers as the night wardens play a vital role in the shelter’s work and without them the out of hours service would not be available.  If you would like to join this amazing team or any of the volunteer roles then please click below for more details.

Here are a few of our wardens that help us ensure we can provide a 24 hour service.