Well.....looks like....

[Sage Wind]

....I'm about to be an ice-breaker in here....:)

I'm a volunteer for a wildlife rehabilitation center. The nearest rehabber is about 40 miles from where I live, so when people find an injured or sick wild animal and are unable (or unwilling) to transport it themselves, they call the center and the center in turn, calls me...

Animals of ALL kinds, from orphaned baby wrens with no feathers to hypothermic trumpeter swans, fawns, raptors, opossum, skunk, groundhogs, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, fox, bats, snakes, turtles, frogs have ridden in my car...you name it, and the center will do its best to heal our non-human brethren and release it back to the wild. Those animals that live and are not able to return to the wild are turned over to nature centers to be used for public education purposes. There's been some amazing success stories and there's been some heart-wrenching tragedies...I feel honored to be a part of the efforts of this truly wonderful group of people...as a matter of fact, I worked as a raptor center assistant for a couple of years at one of those educational nature centers doing hands-on bird of prey environmental education (I have two degrees in that area) with some of these birds, (and herps and reptiles) that could not be released.

The *issue* though is this...some people don't see rehabilitation as something that should be bothered with...as a matter of fact, some see it as downright cruel...especially if the animal is not able to be released back to it's home. There's two sides to the argument (at least where I live, anyway)....one side argues that it's natural balance and we're only meddling with it....the other side sees it as our ethical duty. Guess which side I'm on? LOL!

But, my personal feelings aside--how do YOU all feel about it? Are there wildlife rehabilitation centers in your area? Are they successful? How are they funded? Have you been to them? What are they like? If you don't have one in your area, would you support one? Would you even think about becoming a rehabber?

[Beverlybaynes]

I volunteer with a bird rescue organization, which focuses on raptors. Although I'm trained as a rescue volunteer, I've ended up more in the administration/fundraising end of things, and currently serve as vice president of the board.

We're small and struggling internally to keep our heads above water.

I'd like to talk more about it, because it's a great organization, but I've got to get in the shower and head for work! So, maybe more later.

[Gaye Horn]

I live from one of the most successful Raptor rehab centers in the province. The success rate is 90% and no visitors are allowed here. As to funding it is always difficult to get enough as the feds here do not do enough.
My family supports and funds many places here in Canada through the foundation my cousin has.. she is also a rehabber. I cannot work in ours here as they are isolated and have a serious population of rattlers. They are on the endangered list and quite protected... this site breeds a special quail for food( due to the high hormone content) and this in turn attracts the snakes.. they do not have any anti venon on sight and the nearest hospital is about thrity minutes away... rehabbers are often working alone for a few hours there so it became a necessity to decide what to do. My energies are better served in fund raising.. that is essential if they are to stay operational where ever they are!

[Sage Wind]

Funds are difficult to obtain here, too....'smatter of fact, all the money comes from donations, out of pocket, or fundraisers...there's hardly any money that comes from the state or federal government for these programs....which, I find VERY sad...the main fundraiser that the wildlife center has is a yearly auction/fair. The use of the agricultural arena at a nearby university is donated for the day...Items are sold and auctioned off...environmental education is done...some of the non-releasable animals are on *display* there in cages and people can sponsor those animals for so much per year...there's games for the kids...food that can be purchased...even one of the vet's donates her time to give rabies vaccines to pets....I think she charges $5.00 per shot and the money is then donated to the center...

That's very interesting about the quail and the snakes...I never knew that before....what kind of snakes are they?

90% success rate! That's fantastic!! What about the birds that are rehabbed, but not fit to be released? Are they kept there as residents? Is there somewhere they're transported to live out their lives?

[bcurrie]

Sage Wind,

We do have a rehab center here, and they do rehab every living animal. It is through an Audubon site, called the Ogden Nature Center. I am not a rehabber. I know they use volunteers in their efforts. I am not sure of their money situation. I know the Nature Center must be doing pretty good, as they just built a new visitor's center. I think rehabbing is a good thing, just because I feel we are put here on earth for a reason (this being one of them). Not trying to wax religious on you, but if you believe the Bible, it says Adam named every living creature (quite a responsibility), so I think we still have some obligation towards them. I do not rehab due to when I do something I want to make sure I have the time to devote to it, and right now I do not have this time for a living creature.

[NCLady]

I also volunteer at a rehab center - but it's run by a married couple who started out with a shelter for abused and unwanted dogs. The wife takes care of the dogs (about 30 of them at a time), gets them well and puts them up for adoption. The husband takes care of the wildlife. They have 2 emus, pot bellied pigs, owls, hawks, goats, ducks, deer, exotic parrots, etc. but most of all they have a HUGE pond that caters to the pellicans. The ones that were brought to them have broken wings, or only one leg - but they still breed, so the young who are healthy and are able to fly away, just stay around - food is good. Actually, the fish that is brought in for the pellicans has attracted all the vultures, and they are now quite tame; ugly, but tame. We don't encourage that, but when we are cutting up the fish they just come in a grab a piece. We raise money by getting together with the 4 or 5 other animal shelters in the area and have fund raisers and dog adoption fairs. It's day to day as far as the money goes, but somehow manage.