Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

2014 Hall of Shame Entry #1

4/23/2014

12 Comments

 
WARNING: NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

The red-tailed hawk in the photos below was retrieved from an elderly woman’s grille on 4-21 by a deputy in a neighboring county, who then took the bird to an individual in that county who apparently claims to be a licensed rehabber. After holding the bird for two days, during which it sat in its own excrement, she contacted me, claiming she was “all about helping animals” and that she was licensed.

I looked at the GA rehab list and told her I didn’t see her on the list, and she immediately retracted her lie, admitting that she was NOT, in fact, licensed but that she’d “rehabbed” several owls before. I informed her that holding birds without the proper permits was a violation of state and federal law, and she quickly said she knew this; she was a former law enforcement officer but she didn’t know who to call. Odd that she managed to locate me after the novelty of having the hawk wore off...
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
She then said this bird had “ligament damage” and offered me a steak supper to drive to her county to pick it up—a 45-mile one way trip for me (90 miles round-trip). I informed her she was out of luck on two counts: I’m vegetarian and I currently have baby songbirds requiring feeding every half hour, so she would have to get the bird to me. She managed to get the same deputy who initially rescued the bird to get it to me.

Upon first glance at the bird, it was obvious the leg was broken, and I could smell that nasty odor from the excrement indicating that there were internal injuries, as well. Additionally, the right eye was filled with blood and a whitish speck in the pupil led me to believe there was either a luxated lens or a detached retina—not that it mattered. The right leg was snapped at the knee—an unfixable fracture. The bird could not stand; it was lethargic; its breathing was shallow—in short, the bird was dying. I ended his suffering quickly and humanely—which I could have done two days earlier had he been brought to me in a timely fashion. Oral bleeding upon euthanasia indicated that my initial assessment of internal injuries was correct.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
This Hall of Shamer had allowed this bird to sit in its own shit, in unspeakable pain, for TWO days while she told everyone, including the deputy who took her the bird, that she was a licensed rehabber. I informed him that she was NOT and gave him my contact information, which he will be sharing with the entire sheriff’s office in his county.

In the meantime, it would be LOVELY if DNR and FWS would make very public examples of some of these untrained, unlicensed individuals who do more harm than good, both to the wildlife they hold illegally and to the reputations of properly permitted rehabbers throughout the state.

Folks, THIS is why I hate people. And believe me, I’m not nearly as calm as this entry would indicate. I’m fuming, and reporting this individual to the state and feds and making her my first Hall of Shamer for 2014 is my way of venting that fury.
12 Comments
Pam
4/23/2014 11:03:54 am

Thanks for sharing this sad story. There are a lot of well-meaning people who consider themselves "animal lovers" but won't take the time to get educated. When animals suffer because of their laziness, these individual deserve to be reined in.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/23/2014 02:08:41 pm

Exactly, Pam--if you're gonna "talk the talk" then by-God learn to "walk the walk" as well. Calling oneself a rehabber doesn't mean a thing without those permits, and it damn sure means nothing when animals suffer needlessly at one's hands.

Reply
Wendy
4/23/2014 03:09:00 pm

Wow! How do you stay sane? That's a very special class of cruelty - to sit by and allow a bird to suffer for 2 days - knowing that you have absolutely NO IDEA what the hell you're doing and there are people out there who can legitimately help. I get your rage - completely.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/23/2014 03:26:10 pm

Sane? I'm stark-raving mad. But you're right, it's a combination of ego and cruelty to keep any bird, injured or healthy, when you know you have no clue what you're doing. But these people convince themselves that they're skilled and knowledgeable. Any rehabber worthy of the name will put the animal first and get it to whoever can offer it the best chance at release. These wannabe rehabbers with no permits and even some mammal rehabbers with no federal bird permits refuse to acknowledge that they're beyond their area of expertise, and birds suffer needlessly as a result.

Reply
Pipette
4/23/2014 04:54:21 pm

What an awful, monstrous thing this impostor did, to allow the hawk to suffer like that. I hope you report this person & "name & shame" her to the fullest possible extent.

Thank you for giving this hawk a humane end to its suffering. And you are well entitled to be exactly as furious as you are.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/23/2014 05:13:59 pm

The really infuriating thing, Pipette, is that her ego was so inflated that she honestly felt she'd done nothing wrong, even when caught in a lie--and this from a former law enforcement official who should have known better. Ego has no place in wildlife rehab; ego causes the wildlife to suffer.

Believe me, I had to fight the nearly overwhelming urge to publicly list her name and place of business in this rant. But every state and federal wildlife official I had an email address for has been notified, with full details.

I guess the deputy thought I was slightly insane; after I told him there was no damn excuse for the hawk to've sat in his own shit for two days, I just kept muttering "shit" and "damn" over and over and telling the hawk, "I'm so sorry, baby..."

Reply
Maureen
4/23/2014 06:39:57 pm

Vonda, thanks for writing this. As we know it will not be the last. I hope that some authority will fine the person big bucks. O better yet make her do community service picking up garbage or cleaning toilets. It sucks.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/24/2014 03:48:50 am

Thanks Maureen, and you're right--these types of people never stop, they just get more circumspect about it.

Reply
dmortii
4/24/2014 01:06:30 am

are there legal ramifications for this, if so, go for it, she deserves it

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/24/2014 03:50:31 am

She's been reported to every state and federal wildlife official I had an email address for, dm, so now we let the authorities take over...

Reply
Ann Feldman
4/24/2014 10:20:05 am

I avoided reading this until I was in a good mood. I hope the authorities deal with this idiot soon. Anyway what put me in a "good mood" was finding the new BBG nest (thanks Sem) and seeing three Red-Tails! One was an interloper who got chased out pronto.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
4/24/2014 11:25:34 am

I hope so, too, Ann...

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.