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Seal of Approval
Our players have been thanked after helping injured pups return to the wild
Two injured seal pups have been released back into the wild after weeks of life-saving care, thanks to support from players of People's Postcode Lottery.
The pups were in such a poor state of health when they were found on the Sussex coastline that it was feared they wouldn't survive.
But thanks to the incredible care from teams at animal welfare charity RSPCA - who named the youngsters Skittles and Hopscotch after the classic children’s games - the pair are now back in the sea where they belong.
Their care involved hand-feeding them fish soup round the clock, salt baths and helping them learn to swim again.
Peter Smith, Centre Manager at RSPCA Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in Hastings, where the pups were nursed back to health, said: "As with every seal release, watching Skittles and Hopscotch return to the water was a joy, especially after months of care from our dedicated team.
"Both seal pups required life-saving medical treatment to recover from the injuries to their flippers including regular salt baths and hand-feeding four times a day to start with, until they learned to feed themselves, learning to swim again and to catch fish on their own."
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The rescued seal pups get ready to return to the seaThe pups had been rescued from the shoreline in Hastings by experts from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue before they were transported to the RSPCA centre.
Peter revealed: "There was a point during their rehabilitation that we weren’t sure if the pups would pull through, so their release was a particularly special moment for our team."
Four of the RSPCA’s specialist wildlife rehabilitators were on hand to oversee the return of the seals to the wild and there were tears of joy as the pups happily took to the water.
The emotional moment was made possible with the help of Postcode Lottery players, who have raised £850,000 for RSPCA to support their work, protecting and rehabilitating animals.
Peter added: "Caring for sick and injured seals is incredibly complex and takes a huge amount of time and resources, as we will only intervene when absolutely necessary.
"It takes approximately 120 days between rescuing a seal who is sick and injured and being able to release them back to the wild in a healthy state.
"We simply couldn't do this vital and specialist work without support from players of People's Postcode Lottery."
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Hopscotch and Skittles nuzzle each other after making their way into the waterMaking A Difference
People's Postcode Lottery players are helping deserving causes like RSPCA make a difference every single day. Read more about the range of Charities our players support.