Update on Maryland’s First Non-Lethal Deer Sterilization Program!
Our Mission:
Wildlife Rescue, Inc. (formally Wild Bird Rescue, Inc.)
was founded in 1994. We assist Maryland residents with
wildlife emergencies, rescue and rehabilitate wildlife
with the goal of release back to nature. We are
dedicated to helping people find humane solutions for
co-existing with wildlife. We believe there is always a
humane answer to any wildlife issue.
Quality of Care and
Operating Efficiency
Wildlife Rescue, Inc.
has received the award known as the "Best in America"
Seal. This award is extended to only 5% of the
charities that participate in the Combined Federal
Campaigns. We take pride in receiving this award,
which is not only a reflection of the quality of care
we provide but also recognition of the efficiency of
our administrative and fundraising activities. This
efficiency is demonstrated by the fact that more than
86 cents of every dollar donated is used directly for
the animals under our care.
UPDATE - 2nd Phase completed for Maryland’s First
Non-Lethal Deer Sterilization Project!!
In February of 2012 we completed the second phase of
the non-lethal deer sterilization project. Using only
remote immobilization darting this year, we were able to
perform the rapid ovariectomy procedure on 17 more does.
The first 14 were sterilized in just a few days and then
3 more were sterilized in an additional day that was
added over a week later. This was accomplished with
volunteer veterinarians, volunteer vet techs and other
local volunteer assistants under the direct supervision
of Dr. Anthony DeNicola and Dr. Steven Timm. An
important component of this second phase was to continue
the training and expansion of our volunteer staff to
reduce the overall cost per doe. We are most excited
about this level of volunteer support because their
generosity resulted in a significant reduction of the
cost per doe.
Since many of the previously sterilized does are
observed daily, we have confirmed both a significant
reduction in fawns and a stabilization of the doe
population.
A Very Special Thank You to Keith Gold, DVM and Tamie
Haskin, DVM of Chadwell Animal Hospital, Justin Milizio,
DVM and Jim Cohagen, DVM. Chadwell Animal Hospital’s vet
techs Ashlee Bienert, Andrea Bullock, Claudia Johnson,
Stephanie Motschiedler, Nicole Ruble and volunteers,
Jean Ayers, Debbie LaTorre, Sabino Puja, Matt Matthias
and Melanie Moser.
We are very excited to
announce the first ever
NON-LETHAL WHITE-TAILED DEER STERILIZATION RESEARCH
PROGRAM in the history of Maryland on private land
in a residential community!
Wildlife
Rescue, Inc., after many years of investigation into
non-lethal methods for co-existing humanely with
whitetail deer, funded a research program for proving
the efficacy of spaying deer – instead of killing them –
that would contribute to reducing the overall deer
population, especially useful for suburban areas. The
procedure is actually less intrusive than when a cat or
dog is spayed since only the doe’s ovaries are removed.
The
Researchers:
We brought in top experts
from across the United States to guarantee that this
research project was conducted under the highest
standard for success. Dr. Steven Timm and Dr. Anthony
DeNicola, PhD of White Buffalo Inc. recently established
a protocol for rapid ovariectomy using a direct surgical
approach. Their work involves the combined experience of
Dr. DeNicolas' team of researchers and the surgical and
field experience of Dr. Timm, and established a
technique to provide surgical (definitive) sterilization
in a field environment. Under the guidance of Dr. Timm,
local veterinarians were also taught this rapid
ovariectomy procedure.
The
Results:
Our original goal was to
sterilize 25 does in the first year, but within days, we
exceeded our own expectations. We sterilized 32 does in
the first stage of this study. This will prevent the
birthing of over 300 fawns during the does’ eight-year
reproductive life, and thus exponentially continuing the
reduction of the overall population. In the end, the
cost per prevented birth demonstrates the cost
effectiveness of this humane solution for deer
population control!
Twenty-five percent of the
does were first corralled in a capture rotunda developed
by the USDA to capture and handle deer in a minimally
stressing, extremely humane way, which was safe for both
the deer and workers. The USDA drove it up on a trailer
from Texas for this field trial. The basic design of the
rotunda was developed entirely at the USDA lab in Texas.
A welding instructor and students from Boerne High
School designed, engineered, and constructed the
trailer. As a result, the students won over $52,000 in
scholarships and equipment for the school. Two of the
students said that without these scholarships, they
would not have been able to attend college. We
discovered the rotunda was not as safe and reliable in our cold
climate and we switched to remote immobilization darting
techniques for the balance of the deer that were
sterilized. We would like to thank the USDA for their
support and participation in this project.
Our
Philosophy:
As the Board of Directors
of Wildlife Rescue, Inc., we are charged with a great
responsibility to honor the memory of our founder Gerda
Deterer. A woman who devoted her life to alleviating the
suffering of wildlife. Her dream was for people to
co-exist humanely with the deer and all wildlife. We
would like to thank the Maryland Department Of Natural
Resources for permitting this research program and
helping us to honor Gerda in a way she could only dream
of.
In
the past, farmers would drown kittens when they were
born to keep down the cat population. We no longer use
such barbaric ways to control birth rates, and now
spaying cats is common practice. All we want is to move
forward as a modern humane society in the same way when
it comes to deer and all wildlife. Because, even if
something is free of cost, it does not make it right or
socially acceptable to use it.
President Kennedy once
said… “Change is the law of life, and those who look
only to the past or present are certain to miss the
future”. Wildlife Rescue, Inc believes in the near
future, the citizens of Maryland in suburban residential
neighborhoods where the use of weapons are both
dangerous and socially unacceptable should be afforded
the option to use non-lethal solutions.
By conducting this
program in a residential community, we are continuing
our dedication of helping wildlife and finding humane
solutions for their co-existence with Maryland citizens.
While staying true to our mission to help injured and
orphaned wildlife, we will also continue to research and
educate the public about any new non-lethal solutions
that will protect our wildlife.
How Can
You Help?
This project occurred on
private land and was 100% funded by Wildlife Rescue,
Inc. as a public service to the community and the State
of Maryland. If you would like to make a donation to
support Wildlife Rescue, Inc and/or the NON-LETHAL DEER
RESEARCH PROGRAM FUND, please click the Donate button
and
email us
if your donation is just for the Non-Lethal Deer Fund.
In Memory of Our
Founder
Gerda
Deterer, Founder and President of Wildlife Rescue, Inc.
passed away on October 2nd, 2009 and crossed over
Rainbow Bridge to be with the thousands of animals she
saved and her beloved husband Wayne who co-founded
Wildlife Rescue with her. For over three decades they
traveled all around the state of Maryland to help
citizens with wildlife that was injured, orphaned and in
dire need of emergency help. She never could understand
how people could love their cat or dog and then turn a
blind eye when wildlife was injured and killed.
One of our volunteers wrote, “it is safe to say, you
would find Mother Nature in her DNA”. Well we think it
is safe to say they were working much closer together
than we knew. When Gerda received the devastating news that she had cancer, she said she just wanted
one more baby season to be there for the our little
wildlife patients who needed her. Well, she and Mother
Nature did their magic and Gerda got her one more baby
season and the babies had her for one more year. She
left us at a time when the calls for wildlife help will
be at their lowest in the upcoming months, peaking in
the spring and summer with the influx of new wildlife
babies. We have moved to our new location and we will be ready just in time for the new arrivals.
Gerda had an intense desire to help wildlife in need.
Our great team of volunteers and donors inspired by her
24-7 year round efforts to help wildlife, made her dream
come true. There is no one person who could ever replace
Gerda, these types of individuals are extremely rare.
However, with the help of our incredible group of
rehabilitators, our volunteers who worked closely with
Gerda, and our donors who are vitally important, we are
dedicated to assuring Gerda's great legacy of helping
wildlife will continue. Gerda always said "The reward of
being able to be there for the animals in their time of
need is all the compensation I want."
Gerda was the heart of Wildlife Rescue, Inc and even
though our hearts are broken right now, we will heal and
carry on. Wildlife Rescue will successfully continue her
great efforts as a lasting tribute to Gerda and we will
continue to help the wildlife who are so dear to her and
to all of us.
Gerda asked that donations be made in her memory to
Wildlife Rescue, Inc., Box 330, Monkton, MD 21111 so
her dream could live on.
