Frequently Asked Questions About Out of Area Issues
What are my options if I have found an orphaned animal and I am outside of your current catchment area?
There are only a handful of licensed wildlife rehabilitators in Southern Ontario that can provide care for orphaned wildlife. Wildlife rehabilitators receive little (if any) corporate or government funding for their work, and in fact most -- including Toronto Wildlife Centre -- operate almost entirely on private donations and the generous help of volunteers. Because of the high demand for wildlife rehabilitation, these rehabilitators quickly reach capacity during the spring and summer, when thousands of orphaned animals come pouring in through their doors, each one in need of intensive care.
Because of the enormous demand on our limited resources, we currently CANNOT respond to calls about:
- Baby squirrels and baby rabbits from outside the Greater Toronto Area (which includes the City of Toronto as the regions of Peel, Halton, York, and Durham)
- Baby raccoons and
baby songbirds (to determine what kind of baby bird you have
found, read the information here), except those from Pickering or Richmond Hill (we have special arrangements with these municipalities to provide wildlife services in their area).
We CAN still respond to calls about baby squirrels and rabbits from within the Greater Toronto Area as well as calls about baby raccoons and songbirds from Richmond Hill and Pickering. We will also respond to calls about any other species of baby (including birds other than songbirds) from any area.
We regularly network with licensed wildlife rehabilitators in Southern Ontario to direct orphaned animals to the closest facilities where they can receive appropriate care (whether that be our facility or others), but unfortunately there are always more animals in need than there are trained caregivers to treat them. Because care from untrained caregivers usually results in a poor chance of survival and often significant suffering for the animal as well as a risk to the caregiver, the only humane option for animals who cannot receive rehabilitative care is euthanasia (Questions about euthanasia? Click here).
If you have found a baby squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, or songbird and our outside of the areas we can admit those babies from, the best course of action is to first use our information pages here to determine whether the baby actually needs help. If you determine that it does, contact other rehabilitators in your area (or areas you would be willing to drive to) and see if they are able to admit the baby. One way to find rehabilitators is to contact your local district office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and ask for a list of wildlife rehabilitators in your area. There are also several online search tools for finding rehabilitators, though they may not be comprehensive or up to date. One such tool is IWRC Wildlife International’s rehabilitator search engine.
To our knowledge, none of the rehabilitators we work with in Southern Ontario are able to admit baby raccoons from outside the areas they serve (most rehabilitators are unable to admit baby raccoons even from within their areas) at this time (as of July 2008)—they require a great deal of specialized care and unfortunately become orphaned frequently.
If no other licensed wildlife rehabilitators are able to admit the baby, we recommend that the animal be humanely euthanized. Although euthanasia may seem like a drastic alternative, it is more humane than the other options, such as untrained caregivers trying to raise the baby (for more information on why this is detrimental, click here).
For euthanasia services, contact your local Animal Services or Humane Society. These organizations likely do not rehabilitate wildlife but one of them may be able to provide euthanasia for sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals. Some organizations may also provide a pick up service. If these organizations are unable to euthanize the animal, wildlife rehabilitators and some veterinary clinics may be able to do so (vet clinics may charge a fee).
If you have found an orphaned squirrel, rabbit, songbird or raccoon and are within the catchment areas listed above, you will find information here to assist you in determining whether the baby needs help or not. If you determine that the baby does need help, or if you are not sure what kind of baby you have found, please call our Wildlife Hotline at (416) 631-0662 and follow the prompts to leave us a message.
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