Garfield, the ‘extremely obese’ hedgehog rescued by Wildlife Rescue Team Malta last August, sadly passed away last night.
When she was first rescued, Garfield weighed a whopping 2.2 kilograms. The average North African hedgehog weights between 800 grams and one kilo.
Throughout the past couple of weeks, Garfield had been making some admirable progress.
🦔 Garfield update 🦔 Garfield has been with us for nearly 6 weeks now. She's gone down to 1.5kg from 2.2kg, and the...
Posted by Wildlife Rescue Team Malta on Monday, October 3, 2022
An update shared to social media by Wildlife Rescue Team Malta revealed how she had managed to lose 700 grams in a little over month and was “finally able to lift herself up enough to scratch with her hind legs.”
“For now, we will try to keep her stable at 1.5 kilograms, until she strengthens her muscles. If she loses more weight without strengthening, she risks having saggy skin,” the eNGO had added.
If Garfield had been released with saggy skin, she would have very likely suffered from abrasions and thus, infections,
Garfield’s progress came to a grinding halt this week, when it was found that her liver wasn’t functioning well as a result of her obesity. She had even “started showing signs of jaundice,” the eNGO wrote yesterday.
Shocker hedgehog rescue 🦔🦔 Today we received a call for a hedgehog found on the road with bleeding hind legs. One of...
Posted by Wildlife Rescue Team Malta on Thursday, August 25, 2022
Sadly, Wildlife Rescue Team Malta revealed that she succumbed to this very ailment overnight.
“Our vet performed a necropsy (animal autopsy) during the morning to determine the cause of death. The findings show liver failure due to extreme fat deposits in the liver, causing the liver to stop working,” the organisation wrote.
“This was a direct cause of Garfield’s obesity. It was caused by months or years of Garfield being overfed and not allowed to exercise and run around. Internally, the damage caused to the organs by the amount of fat stored in her body was too severe to be reversed. This is not cute, this is animal cruelty,” it continued
In light of such tragic news, Wildlife Rescue Team Malta appealed to its readers to refrain from keeping wild animals – such as hedgehogs – as pets.
🖤 💔🕯🦔 Today, with a broken heart, we sadly announce that during the night Garfield crossed over the rainbow...
Posted by Wildlife Rescue Team Malta on Thursday, October 13, 2022
“All our volunteers are deeply saddened by Garfield’s passing, our only consolation being that for the last few weeks, Garfield was able to walk around, interact with other hedgehogs, and be a proper hedgehog herself,” the eNGO added.
“We appeal to the public to admire our wildlife in their natural habitat, and that it is against the law to keep any of our wild animals as pets,” it concluded.
Rest in peace, Garfield!
Wildlife Rescue Team Malta / Facebook, Wildlife Rescue Team Malta / Facebook