Animal rehab centers won’t beg, but they will kindly ask for help. Just an hour of volunteering or a simple donation allows you to give back in your own way to help our environment’s protectors.

As summer approaches, animal rehabilitation centers are preparing for busy times, especially in the Pennsylvania area. With more cars on the road and a surge of newborn animals, it’s almost inevitable that everyday people will come across an animal in need. Volunteers at rehab centers say that as the number of animals increases, and so do the supplies needed to take care of them alongside the demand for longer hours needed by staff. Rehabilitation centers need support, both financially and through volunteers. The residents need support with what they’re struggling with and the staff needs mental support.

Caleigh Brumbaugh, a Junior Conservation and Wildlife major, is an Animal Care Intern at West Shore Wildlife Center in Dover PA. Given her experience she has given a detailed insight of the life at an Animal Rehab Center. She has worked with a myriad of animals, from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, both local and invasive. Each animal coming in with its own story. Each animal touching the hearts of the staff, both positively and negatively.

“Compassion fatigue is the idea that whenever working with animals or people where death happens a lot, you start to lose hope in what you’re doing basically. You wonder if there’s a point or if it gets better. Many people suffer from it and can sometimes be a reason for high overturn rates in the profession” said Brumbaugh when asked about the animals she works with.

The effects of compassion fatigue may differ from center to center, as each center handles different animals and problems. At West Shore Wildlife Center they hold a number of licenses for what animals they can legally work with. One of which is for animals that have rabies or perceived to have rabies. Upon seeing any of the perceived symptoms, loss of sight or are too calm the animal must be put down even if it’s a juvenile. This alongside the mortality rate of animals that come to the rehab center really hammer the nail into staff.

“Mortality is roughly 50% with most of that coming from injuries that the animal came in for to begin with. During baby season, that number can get a lot higher due to humans only being able to imitate so much of parental care” said Brumbaugh when giving a general gist of her work.

Although there’s the negatives there are the positives that you can do to help them. Most Rehab Centers take in donations, mainly money, and this helps pay for expenses as well as resources for the animals. West Shore Wildlife Center, not only accepts donations in the form of money, but also equipment and resources for the animals. They even have an Amazon wishlist that highlights what the center needs that the people can get them. Though one of the greatest positives that one can bring is volunteer work, helping ease the load around the center, both mentally and physically. The increased staff also may allow the center to train more people to handle various other animals and situations thus diversifying the animals that can be helped. 

The way the center is able to diversify is as mentioned with the use of licenses. These licenses allow what the center can legally take in and care for. Thus with the given space and the more people trained to take care of them correctly the more that they can take into their care. This allows for the center to be able to save more animals than they possibly could and be able to give them that care, that without the licensing wouldn’t be possible.

This experience of being a part of this community is also one of the highlights of positivity. Brumbaugh attributes her experience of specifically her immediate hands on training to be what drove her into the field. The idea of not just being on the sidelines, but being a part of the main front from the beginning was breathtaking. She liked being viewed as an asset and someone who could pull her weight. She has such a great experience that she feels ready to dive right into this life of work as soon as she graduates.

“This job has fully changed my life and perspective of my future. It has been the best experience I have ever had and I hope to use it to guide my life and career” said Brumbaugh when asked about how much she enjoys her position.

Disclaimer: This Article is not sponsored by any Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers, nor are any of them sponsored by the Full360 of Delaware Valley University. This was made of the reporters own curiosity.