A HOSPITAL with a difference at Cwmann, near Lampeter, is all set to welcome some prickly customers after opening its doors on Friday.

West Wales Hedgehog Rescue has opened the first hedgehog hospital in the area in a bid to halt the fall in their numbers.

And, appropriately enough, the opening happened during National Hedgehog Awareness Week.

“There’s now only an estimated 140,000 hogs left in Wales,” Di O’Keefe, of West Wales Hedgehog Rescue, told the Cambrian News. “They’ve been on this planet for 15 million years and we don’t want to see them disappear.

“The number of hogs we have already managed to rehabilitate more than justifies a facility of this nature.”

The conservation group, which now has over 150 members and a Facebook page, takes in baby hedgehogs deemed too weak to survive a long winter of hibernation.

Until recently they were housed in Ms O’Keefe’s kitchen, but last Friday saw a new headquarters launched in a large shed in her garden.

“Household noises such as the sound of a hoover can cause stress to hogs,” she explained. “We wanted a separate hospital for them which would be nice and quiet.

“It was paid for by the public – we set up a JustGiving page which raised £950 in three weeks.”

Fellow conservationist Irene Harvey said the number of their supporters had “snowballed” in the past 18 months.

“Di started it all by taking in little hedgehogs,” she said. “They’re nocturnal animals so if you see them out in the day they’re in trouble."

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