In the kitchen of Alan and Heather Hewitt's home in Wakefield Road a
wallaby begs for his bottle and an injured kestrel beadily eyes up the chicks defrosting on the kitchen worktop while Vinnie, a baby meerkat, keeps up a constant chirruping commentary as he surveys the world from a convenient shoulder.

In other words, it is a perfectly normal day for the area's first ever rescue centre for exotic animals.


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Alan and Heather Hewitt have turned their hobby, caring for unwanted exotic pets and injured wild animals, into a permanent vocation by setting up the Morley Exotic Animal Rescue Centre.

The couple, who live with their three children, Edward, nine, Grace, 14, and Abigail, 16, and at least 14 animals, insects and reptiles at Rhosgwyn on Wakefield Road, will be launching the charity at an open day on Sunday, August 9.

They will be inviting people into their garden to meet their impressive menagerie and to kick-start fundraising so the charity can begin to support itself.

Alan said: "We have been taking in animals on our own initiative for Lord knows how long, but it has been growing. We have been in financial services for years, which puts bread on the table, but during the last couple of years that has diminished as we have spent more time with the animals.

"We find it so relaxing and we hope to get out of financial services totally in time."

Alan's love of unusual pets started when he was 19, when he bought two pythons.

"People have been recommending us to take animals in for people for years," said Alan.

"I became a member of the Special Keepers Association but I started thinking about turning it into a charity when I was talking to a woman from the RSPCA, who said they had a real problem because the closest place they could take animals was Hull."

He added: "Not long ago we got a phone call about a wallaby whose mum had kicked it out of her pouch."

At around the same time they inherited a pair of meerkats.

"Being a male and female, the inevitable happened and soon we had a lot more meerkats running round," he said.

"Just yesterday someone brought in a fledgling kestrel which had been badly mauled by a cat. She's now on my dining room table, in a cage, playing with a mouse."

"To see the state she was in when she came to us and to see her now, it's fabulous. And when Jack the wallaby climbs on our knees to watch TV and pinch our doner kebabs, it's really satisfying to feel that bond with an animal."

The Hewitts hope their new charity status will allow them to get grants to pay for better facilities. They also plan to help fund the charity by showing off their exotic creatures on educational visits to schools, galas and children's parties.

Anyone wanting to hear about the pleasures and pitfalls of taking a wallaby for a walk, or brave enough to handle a tarantula, can pop along to Rhosgwyn on Sunday, August 9, from 11am-3pm.

The charity welcomes donations, not just money, but any spare equipment people may have at home and no longer need.