Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation: March 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008

Help us and Donate

YOUR DONATIONS WILL HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON OUR PATIENTS. THANK YOU!

Donate any amount you like - we can use even the smallest amounts!

Please use the above button for sponsorships!

SPONSOR KACHINA

Want to sponsor an animal? We are always in need of sponsors for our patients. Periodically, we will focus on one particular patient. At this time, we are doing just that. Our focus currently is on Kachina, a first year Red-Tail hawk that will be with us for some time while we continue her

rehabilitation and look for permanent placement for her in an appropriate, loving educational situation. Your sponsorship will insure she, like all of our patients, will get the best care possible.
For your $50.00 sponsorship, you will get a sponsor's certificate along with her photo (8x10) and her story. What a wonderful gift for yourself or someone you know that also loves wildlife and wishes the continued success of our efforts.

Or you can buy a Photoprint of your favorite Animal:
Just $ 50, +S/H, Utah residents add 4.75% Sales tax.

Thank you!

Volunteer

Volunteering is a serious commitment, not to be taken lightly. There is a great deal of training involved, all of which takes up a great deal of time.
We can't afford to do this and then, a volunteer vanishes!
All facilities require long term commitments, so please, take this seriously because we truly value and need all of our volunteers when WE need them, not when it's convenient.
If you live out of the Utah area, contact your local wildlife rehabilitator and ask them what THEY need.
There can be items purchased if you want to help but don't have any time to actually donate.
Services such as computer work, office type work (making copies, etc.) or fundraising are all very important in addition to the actual handling of animals and cleaning and repairing of their environments. Some tasks are needed more often then others as well.
Most facilities won't allow younger people to work around or handle the animals. There are too many possible problems that could happen. Check with the facility regarding these limitations.
Our facility is always looking for help. My main volunteer, Connie, is far too overworked. We do get scout groups that come in from Salt Lake occasionally and some groups will have fundraisers for us, which helps out tremendously.
Businesses can also help out by offering their services. This helps out and what money is available can stay dedicated to the animals immediate needs, instead of going for related expenses. There is always a way to help out.

Thanks for your interest and remember, the need is ONGOING.

Directions

Our Address is:

Second Chance
Wildlife Rehabilitation,
725 North Carbonville Road, Price, Utah 84501

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Contact

If you wish to contact me, Debbie Pappas, the director and permit holder for Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, you may email me directly at secondchancewildliferehab@yahoo.com. If you need to find a rehabilitator in your area, contact your local wildlife agency. In Utah, that is DWR (Division of Wildlife Resources). These are government agencies and they all have websites with the names of licensed wildlife rehabilitators.
Do not try to take care of wild animals yourself. You are doing them a terrible diservice as rehabilitation involves many different areas, not just feeding. Good intentions can kill.

Questions?

About Us

Welcome everyone!
Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation is located in the eastern part of Utah. We are a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the care of sick, orphaned and injured wildlife. We cover a large area of the state, mostly rural, out-of-the-way areas.
We serve many types of patients, including waterfowl, small mammals, songbirds and raptors. We see many types of injuries, mostly vehicle impacts. Human activity accounts for most of our patients injuries. We also see illegal activity such as gunshot victims and poisonings. Yes people, there are still idiots amongst us!
In most wildlife rehabilitation settings, very little traveling is done on the part of the facility. This is not how it is for us, however. More than 60% of the calls that come into us for help, are responded to by us. Sometimes we are given little more than a highway and mile marker number that is "close". Hours are spent in these situations. Volunteers in the elements, in the middle of no where, looking for an injured animal can be very exhausting and dangerous. We also travel for vet care for our patients. The trip to our vet is approximately 75 miles one-way.

All of our work and costs are donated as wildlife rehabilitation is an unpaid profession. We don't work for the state wildlife agency or US Fish and Wildlife but we must be licensed by these agencies. Both agencies, local and federal are not trained and funded to provide these services, so when there are wildlife problems, whether it be from injury, illness or orphans, these agencies that do respond to a call, take these creatures to one of us, wildlife rehabilitators.
Why do we do it? It's simple. We're the only ones out there for the wildlife and there are fewer and fewer of us daily as our expenses and time are great. This profession also takes a heavy toll on our personal lives (what personal life?). We receive calls any hour of the day or night, holidays, it doesn't matter as wildlife emergencies are not 9 to 5. What is the most important, is getting them the help they need as soon as possible.
If you support our work in saving wild creatures and returning them to their natural lives, then I encourage you to donate.
All proceeds go 100% to the care of these creatures, whatever that may include.
Our expenses are great. We hope we never have to choose whether a surgery is performed or not based on lack of funds.

We offer sponsorships and adoptions of the patients in our care, with the opportunity to name someone and receive personal updates about their care. A generous donation will include a framed photo of your 'adoptee'.
Remember, centuries from now it will not matter about the house we lived in or how much money we made in a lifetime....but the world may be better because we helped some of God's little animals on this earth during our time here.
Our mailing address is Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, 725 North Carbonville Road, Price, Utah 84501

Feathered brothers and sisters, you came to us broken and as you bled…….we saw you desperate, dehydrated, desiccated, diseased, distressed, emaciated, famished, frayed, frightened, helpless, hungry, ragged, ravenous, shaken, shocked, shot, sickly, stressed, stunned, tattered, thirsty, traumatized, torn, weary and wounded. Defiantly, you stood us off with your last breath as we tried to tend to you. We saw you come in as cute, naked, fuzzy, cuddly youth, as mischievous, defiant adolescents, as fierce, regal rulers of the sky and as cunning, maimed elders whose time on earth was almost done. You endeared yourselves to us, bit us, charmed us, footed us, delighted us, hissed at us, talked to us, mantled at us, and graced us with your presence.

Some of you mended and were able to go on your way, never looking back. Some of you were injured in ways that prevented you from going, so you stayed with us to teach us…….And we came to love you. Others were too far gone, and you went home - where you fly free from pain with the Great One. All of you have touched us, and we are changed because of you.

used with permission by Arlene Powers

ATTENTION

Spring is a very active wonderful time for all animals. Babies are born and learning what it takes to be wild from their parents. Unfortunately, many may end up in trouble and often times humans may try to intervene, whether or not it is necessary. The inexperienced human finding a baby bird, for instance, more than likely cannot tell if the bird is truely in need of help, or is learning to fly, something that can take a few days to master. Leaving the baby to learn what it needs is something an experienced birder can spot, but taking that baby home, thinking you're helping, when in fact, it is the worst thing possible for that baby, has now changed it's life forever.
Call a rehabilitator for answers. Yes, we want that baby to be safe from predators, but give that baby a chance. The worst thing that happens in these situations is an improper diet being fed by the 'rescuer'. This will result in death, if not right away, then in time, due to improper development. Different birds require different diets and different amounts of food at different times. Here is where a wildlife rehabilitators knowledge and experience makes all the difference. Don't try to do this yourself, only to attempt to find a rehabilitator as the baby is dying due to your 'efforts'. When they are at this stage, there is very little that can be done AND it is also illegal to attempt raising wildlife. Only a permitted wildlife rehabilitator can do this legally, for we know how to keep them wild and ready for release as well. Making them pets, besides being illegal is very selfish and is not what's best for the wildlife. They need to be free and have learned how to find the food they will need to survive in the wild and know what to avoid and learn the language of their species. There is a lot that goes into a successful rehabilitation and the orphans out there deserve the best chance possible. Don't you agree?

DID YOU KNOW...........

Wildlife rehabilitation is a profession borne of a love and concern for wild things everywhere. We wildlife rehabilitators have taken this many steps forward, increasing our knowledge, skills and techniques into a career that most people do not know exists. Most people assume that the work that a wildlife rehabilitator does is something all state wildlife agencies perform as state employees. This could not be further from the truth.
The reality is, all wildlife rehabilitation is done, in all 50 states, by us, wildlife rehabilitators. State and federal officials MAY occasionally pick up the patients that come to us, but they bring them to us at our homes and facilities, not their state or federal offices or vets offices.
Ours is a specialized field that primarily involves vet/medical expertise. No, we are not veterinarians, but many of us have extensive backgrounds in medicine (people and animals).
We also have vast backgrounds in the natural history of the patients we care for. Our work involves many fields. State and federal wildlife folks just don't have that training or background.
The other aspect of our work that is not known, is that we are not paid by anyone. Our patients don't 'belong' to anyone. They are wild beings. So when they have medical needs, there is no one to step up to this challenge except wildlife rehabilitators. Most of us work basically 24/7. Holidays are no exception. When an animal is hurt, it needs help now!
To top it all off, whatever expenses these patient incure, the bills are paid by us, for vet care, surgeries, medications, all of it. We build their homes and repair them as needed. All of our patients need something. They are not here to visit, they are in trouble. So imagine if you will......going to work everyday, driving your own vehicle to do that work and never getting a paycheck. OK, so maybe you can do that.....now imaging having a source of income from somewhere, now, this is where things get really different. When you get that money, you just turn it over to other people to pay for what your patients need, regardless of your financial needs!
This is wildlife rehabilitation.
We also are constantly pursuing continuous education of the latest finds in our field. We strive to be the best we can for those entrusted to us.
So please, support your wildlife rehabilitator in your area. They need it and believe me, it is very much appreciated.

Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation