The Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the care of sick, orphaned and injured wildlife. Director, Debbie Pappas stopped by Castle Country Radio to talk about the organization.

Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation is a charitable organization who depends on volunteers to come assist them with the care of the animals. “We have a whole host of things we need help with. It takes a lot of different types of help to run a facility like ours. Want to help clean things, people that want to help build things. We need landscaping help all the time. We need people to help with paperwork, we need people to help with fundraising. My God, without money coming in, we can’t do what we do,” stated Pappas. The organization is always looking for individuals to volunteer, especially those that specialize in carpentry or electrical work to help with the ongoing construction of enclosures on the premises.

The organization works closely with the DWR as they contact Second Chance when they find an animal. “We actually exist because of a huge lack of abilities by the Division of Wildlife Resources to do this work. They actually need us, they don’t have the ability, the resources, the time, anything else. So that’s kind of why wildlife rehabilitators came about,” explained Pappas. There are many types of patients that the facility helps including waterfowl, small mammals, song birds and raptors.  The rehabilitation facility in Eastern Utah serves many counties throughout the state of Utah.

She finished by reminding drivers about the deer on the roads this time of year, “Anytime that the deer mortalities ramp up on the road, eagle mortalities are going to ramp up as well because eagles, even though they’re birds of prey, they’re also scavengers. So you’re going to see eagles on those bodies a lot more.” It’s important when you do see an animal on the roadside that you travel with caution as there may be birds eating off the carcass.

If you would like more information on volunteering call (435) 650-3441 or to learn more about Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation visit their Facebook page.