Castle Country Radio is kicking off the new year by naming Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation (SCWR) as their January Charity of the Month. Facility Director, Debbie Pappas took time from her busy schedule to talk about the services they provide.

“We are an organization that takes care of injured, orphaned, or sick wildlife in the state of Utah. Our permits are for the entire state, obviously, we would just work around our area or so. We do cover the largest area in Utah though, around 11 counties, simply because there is only a handful of us in the state of Utah,” explained Pappas. In order for SCWR to do the work they have to apprentice for some time. Most of their work is veterinarian but they also have to have knowledge of habitat and diseases of wildlife. Pappas has been doing this type of work for 29 years with a background in Human Medicine.

Many people think that when an injured wildlife animal is found, the DWR takes it and cares for it, but this is not true. “So the DWR does not do what I do, so whenever there is a problem with wildlife they have to reach out to the wildlife rehabilitator. The only other option, and obviously we don’t like to hear that, is for them to kill the animal. If you got a rehabilitator that can do that, why would you do that, unless it’s clear that the animal is truly suffering,” said Pappas. The DWR and SCWR working closely together when it comes to injured, orphaned or sick wildlife.

SCWR is also looking for donations and volunteers as they are a non-profit organization. Not only do they accept monetary donations but they also will take building materials to help with the enclosures. “It would be great if people would just say we’ve got some lumber in really good shape, can you use this. We also keep a stash of that stuff so when we’re ready to do a project, obviously trying to build something in this kind of weather is not ok, so we don’t want to have to scramble in the Spring and worry about trying to find lumber. It’s nice to have a lot of those things donated to us,” stated Pappas. If you have special skills like carpentry, electrical, plumbing and would like to donated some time to help the organization it would be greatly appreciated. The monetary donations that SCWR receives assists with housing, food, medical supplies, veterinarian expenses, transportation and minor administration costs.

To learn more information about Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation you can visit their website or Facebook page