![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sharon-and-Andy-Longhurst-family-photo-via-SWNS-e1764324867717-1024x484.jpg\")
Sharon and Andy Longhurst \u2013 family photo via SWNS<\/p>\n Sharon and Andy Longhurst \u2013 family photo via SWNS<\/p>\n
From Scotland comes the story of a couple who have dedicated their hearts and homes to an often helpless critter.<\/p>\n
Andy and Sharon Longhurst have helped heal and rehabilitate over 500 European hedgehogs over nearly 3 years, and though they aren\u2019t veterinarians, they can\u2019t help but help when someone brings them a hedgehog.<\/p>\n
Called the Burntisland Hedgehog Haven<\/a>, the Longhursts began in 2023 in the upstairs room in their house, where they were allowed to care for up to 7 hedgehogs without a license in Scotland.<\/p>\n But they quickly realized the need to expand their capacity after word got out there was somewhere to bring an injured hedgehog. Not long after they started, they had to convert their garage.<\/p>\n Following two years of fundraising their own money, they\u2019ve built a treatment ward in their garden, installed an ICU and over 40 rehab cages, as well as taken on 18 volunteers, established 3 rescue centers across Scotland, and even set up an ambulance service.<\/p>\n \u201cHedgehogs were listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 as they have declined between 30-75% in rural areas since the year 2000,\u201d Mrs. Longhurst said. The animals are slow, brown, and have poor eyesight, making them unfortunately vulnerable targets for vehicle strikes and other hazards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were out in the car one day in 2022 and saw a hedgehog out in the day collapsed on a grass verge,\u201d Mr. Longhurst said. \u201cWe contacted the SSPCA and they weren\u2019t able to collect, so we drove the hedgehog all the way to the SSPCA Wildlife Center\u2014which was a 50 mile round trip.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe leant that there was a guy up in Wormit near St. Andrews that had been doing hedgehog rescue for 25-plus years and was looking for someone to take it over due to ill health,\u201d he said, explaining how they got started. \u201cWe went and had a chat with Sandy Boyd and he gave us valuable information and gave some equipment to get us started.\u201d<\/p>\n Parents to three children, the Longhursts were shocked at how quickly the 7 animal-limit was breached.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a hedgehog out there that needs help and it\u2019s in pain, I can\u2019t say no, we have to help it,\u201d said Sharon. \u201cWe always say we have to draw a line, we cannot take any more but then you get that phone call and we\u2019re like \u2018come on, bring it in.\u201d<\/p>\n HELPING ANIMALS IN NEED: 700 Cats Rescued After TikTok User Finds a Texas Tabby\u2013and Rescues a Sanctuary in Trouble<\/a><\/p>\n That saw them convert their garage, which had previously served as a playroom for the children, into the second of three eventual wards at the rescue center. The couple later fundraised to build a structure in their garden where the third ward is located.<\/p>\n Andy and Sharon can now care for up to 40 hedgehogs at any one time and have a team of volunteers to help cleaning, weighing, and checking the hedgehogs on a daily basis.<\/p>\n Part of their mission is also to educate the public on how to create a safe space in their own garden. They\u2019ve rescued hedgehogs from practically every malady imaginable, from vehicle strikes to fly larvae infestations, infections, wounds from dogs, wounds from gardening tools, and even one fellow whose spikes got tangled in a soccer net. If they need antibiotics or an x-ray, they\u2019ll send them off to the vet, as they\u2019re not certified for that level of care.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sharon-Longhurst-helping-a-hedgehog-family-photo-via-SWNS.jpg\")
Sharon Longhurst helping a hedgehog \u2013 family photo via SWNS<\/p>\n