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Critter Creek Wildlife Station |
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Animals For Education |
Thank
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Animals
for Education-Critter Creek Wildlife Station has a three-fold mission and
presence in the Central Valley community. The
first mission is rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife in Tulare,
Kings, Fresno and parts of Madera and Kern counties. We respond to calls
from the public as well as agencies such as California Department of Fish and
Game, Animal Control (Fresno County), Tulare County Animal Control, Valley
Oak SPCA, Kings County Animal Control, California Highway Patrol, Fresno
County and Tulare County Sheriffs. We have someone answering the phone
over 90% of the time-seven days a week. Once we receive a call, we
dispatch one of our volunteers living in that area. These runners or
first responders pick up the animal and either transport it to the vet or to
the facility for care. At least 30% of our time on the phone is spent
educating and advising the public on wildlife and other environmental
questions they have. The
second mission is doing educational presentations. Several times a
year we have Open Houses. Visitors are able to view the wildlife in
their native habitat. There are guides available to answer any
questions. These Open Houses are popular especially for children
because they can take their time, run around taking pictures, and learn
information about their favorite animal. The last mission of the facility is to provide a sanctuary for permanently imprinted native and non-native wildlife. When illegal pets are confiscated, we are asked by law enforcement to give the animal a safe place to live out its life, at the same time protecting the public from harm. Whenever we can, we use these animals to educate the public about wildlife law and the sad consequences when the law is disobeyed. |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Critter Creek Open to the Public on Saturdays and
Sundays. Please email us at crittercreekwildlife@hughes.net to arrange an Appointment. Winter Open House |
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A
Day of Injustice for Critter Creek If you recently visited
Critter Creek during our Spring Open House, you noticed the entire facility
and cages were open to the public.
Here’s why. The last week of
January, California Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted an unannounced
inspection of our rehabilitation facility.
One week later, they came with 10 people and confiscated every animal
we had except for those under our education/exhibiting permit. Some of the
animals were still being rehabbed and had not been here for 180 days. Some
needed a permanent refuge, having been brought to us by their own California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and settled in here as confiscated pets. Several were permitted under our United
States Department of Agriculture permit but not yet under California Fish and
Wildlife. They took everything—eagles,
hawks, owls, crows, ravens, songbirds even Bernie, a little sparrow that was
burned in one of the foothill fires and survived. We had intake (information) forms for every
one of them, just not the paperwork they wanted. We do not have the money to hire a
veterinarian on staff. We are
fortunate that San Joaquin Vet. Hospital is willing to help us treat most
wildlife that needs care. The vet
records are with them. Because there
were no records of vet care on site, they confiscated the animals. We had some of the animals longer than 180
days and had not yet moved them over to the education/exhibiting permit. Another reason cited for the
confiscation. We also were using some
permanently injured animals that were comfortable in their enclosures to
foster the juvenile birds—a process sanctioned by the United States
Department of Fish and Wildlife, but again we had no paperwork verifying the
use of these birds for fostering. We
had applied for an education/exhibiting permit for a young bobcat, but they
ignored the application and confiscated the bobcat giving him to some other
rehab. facility. Of the animals confiscated,
we do not know what happened to them.
They said sixteen birds were euthanized; yet many of these birds were
content and comfortable in our enclosures.
Several were injured in their efforts to catch them and load them into
carriers. It was a dark day
especially since there was little information as to why they raided us. I immediately sent a letter describing the
process that permit inspections are supposed to follow based on my 45 years
of experience. The inspector comes, inspects, lists what problems need to be
corrected, the corrections are discussed and a time line is set for
reinspection at which time the problems need to have been addressed. There is no need to remove
any animals. None of this was
done. In about two weeks, we received
a letter stating that our rehab permit had been suspended pending correction
of ten deficiencies listed in the letter and a deadline of June 1st
when Critter Creek would be reinspected. After three months of
expensive repairs and hundreds of hours of volunteer work, we were ready for
the reinspection. Weeks before June 1st,
we had sent our responses and descriptions of corrective actions addressing
each of the deficiencies with documentation.
We got no feedback at all.
During this time, there was only one wildlife rehabber trying to meet
the needs of the entire Central Valley. By the 1st of June, they
were at capacity and no longer accepting animals. Animals had to be taken out of the region
or left to die. We contacted the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, only to be told that they would
not conduct a reinspection. The only
reasons given were “on-going investigation and additional animal welfare
concerns.” I’m not sure they ever
intended to reinstate our rehab permit. I asked for more
information in several follow-up letters and was finally told I would have to
file a public records request (essentially a FOIA request). We have spent four months
trying to work with them to get whatever problems there are resolved. They have done nothing to move this
along. They have nullified a $10,000
grant to continue our work and they are trying to deny a grant we were to
receive from Fresno County.
Financially, after all the grants that are being pulled and expenses
meeting their agenda, we are unable to hire an attorney. The process to appeal this attack going
forward is beyond my skill set. We could use our supporters
to speak up and contact media, contact California Fish and Wildlife, and
inform other wildlife agencies. We
need donations to keep Critter Creek operating, and volunteers to continue to
keep the facility up to inspection standards.
There are expectations from California Fish and Wildlife for a
facility dealing with the volume of wildlife we are serving each year to have
four full time employees. Yet, they
pulled the grant that would have paid for a five-month employee. We tried to do this quietly
with little publicity in the hope that the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife would also cooperate to remedy whatever issues there are, but they
are refusing any efforts we have made to solve whatever problems are still
unresolved. We do not have the
financial revenue stream of Marin County, Monterey Bay, San Diego, or Malibu,
but we do an amazing job given our resources and number of wildlife (1600
animals in 2024) we serve. This spring
has been difficult for wildlife in the Central Valley without our
services. Yet, no effort is being made
to reinstate and renew our rehabilitation permit. Let us know how you can
help! |
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Barn Owl Box Plans – 3.3MB .pdf
file (Note: Plans are on pages 8 to 17) |
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E-mail Us By Clicking Here
or our e-mail is: crittercreekwildlife@hughes.net |
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Critter Creek is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
corporation. (Tax ID number
77-0204523) |
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Electronic Donations Now Accepted Click GiveDirect Logo
Below or see our Circle Of Supporters page for
more information.
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