About this directory
How organisations get listed here, and what verification does not mean
A directory is only useful if you know what its entries mean. This explains exactly what a listing on this site does and does not tell you, so you can judge it yourself in an emergency.
Why this page exists
In an emergency you do not have time to work out how much to trust a website. So it is worth stating plainly, in advance, what a listing here means — and what it does not.
What we check before listing
- That the organisation exists as a distinct, identifiable body rather than a duplicate entry under a different spelling.
- That the contact route we publish was provided by, or published by, the organisation itself.
- That the services and city recorded match what the organisation states about itself.
- That the entry does not duplicate one already in the directory.
What a listing does not mean
This is the part people reasonably assume, so we want to be direct about it.
| A listing does not mean | Why not |
|---|---|
| They will answer right now | Most rescue work is done by small teams and volunteers. Availability changes hourly and we cannot see it. |
| They can take your case | Capacity, species handled and area covered all vary, sometimes day to day. |
| We endorse or have inspected them | We record what an organisation states about itself. We do not inspect premises or audit outcomes. |
| The details are current today | Numbers and addresses change and we are not always told. This is the single most common way a directory goes stale. |
If a listing is wrong
Tell us and we will correct or remove it. A wrong number in a rescue directory is worse than no number, because someone spends time on it during an emergency. We would rather have a smaller directory that is accurate than a larger one that is not.
Corrections we act on include: numbers that no longer connect, organisations that have closed or moved, services or cities recorded wrongly, and any organisation that asks to be removed. An organisation asking to be delisted is removed without argument.
If you are an organisation
You can ask to be listed, corrected, or removed. Listing is free and always will be. We do not charge for placement, we do not rank paid entries above others, and there is nothing to buy — a directory that sold position would be worthless in the only situation it exists for.
Where to go for actual emergencies
Nothing on this page is emergency guidance. If you are dealing with an injured or distressed animal now, start with the emergency flow, which walks through what to do first and what not to do. The rescue guides cover specific situations — road accidents, birds, wildlife, dog bites and safe transport — each with a call script for describing the situation quickly.
Written and reviewed by the NEST Animal Help editorial team. This describes our own listing process. It contains no emergency instructions and no contact details by design — for urgent situations use the emergency flow, and for contact details use the directory or helpline pages, which are the only places we keep them.