The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
The claws came out last spring when competing packs of animal lovers sought to mark their territory on the same piece of city property. Now the City Council must choose a winner in this clash to open the region's first wildlife rehabilitation center.
City staff must review both proposals and make a recommendation to the council in the coming weeks, officials said.
"We're looking forward to making a decision and moving on from this," Councilwoman Barbara Henley said.
Wildlife Response, a volunteer network of home-based animal rehabbers, and the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals each submitted a plan to open a wildlife center on a 50-acre tract near the intersection of Indian River and North Landing roads. Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge, a home-based nonprofit, signed onto the SPCA's proposal.
Both plans call for a reserve similar to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, where biologists took three eaglets last spring after their mother was struck by an airliner heading into Norfolk International Airport. The Beach-based center would cut back on the number of Hampton Roads residents who care for injured wildlife at their homes and serve as a centralized release point, representatives from both organizations have said.
The two groups have traded jabs the past several months. Wildlife Response Director Lisa Barlow has accused the SPCA of trying to bully her small nonprofit; SPCA Executive Director Sharon Adams has questioned Wildlife Response's ability to run a center.
City leaders, meanwhile, have worked to stay above the fray.
"We had hoped all the interested parties could work together," said Henley, whose Princess Anne district includes the proposed wildlife site. "That would have been ideal, but that didn't happen."
"This is a tough one," Mayor Will Sessoms said during a spring council meeting that drew dozens of supporters from each camp. "I hate to see wonderful organizations that do a great service being in disagreement."
City officials said they will review the plans and decide which group is best positioned - financially and logistically - to run a wildlife center. "We're going to be looking to determine which group can deliver," Henley said.
Wildlife Response's proposal cleared the Planning Commission in February but hit a snag after the SPCA and Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge objected, saying they had not been made aware of the plan.
"This is what we've been planning for seven years," Barlow said. "This isn't something we just threw together."
Adams wrote to Sessoms last week urging him to consider the SPCA's track record and resources. The SPCA raised more than $2.3 million in 2009, according to tax records. Wildlife Response, based in Chesapeake, wasn't required to file a tax return with the IRS because it took in less than $25,000. The SPCA plan, Adams wrote, "focuses on the actual needs of the region, not the needs of a particular organization to increase visibility."
Wildlife Response already has raised nearly enough money to complete the first phase of site renovation and construction, Barlow said. And the group's "wide network of volunteers" is waiting to staff it.
"We really feel like we're the underdog in this," Barlow said. "But we feel like we're in the best position to open and run a center. Our group is focused on caring for wildlife, nothing else."
Mike Hixenbaugh, (757) 222-5117, mike.hixenbaugh@pilotonline.com
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source WCV
WCV: With a budget of less than $25K/year and no facility, no staff and no endowment a WCV like facility would cost about $2 million dollars to replicate, and require a budget of about $1million/year.
It has taken decades for WCV become what it is. What are the chances are of a new WCV suddenly popping up because the group has access to land? The other group has a fundamentally different focus, though they do have the demonstrated capability and the staff to undertake big projects.
Irresponsible
NO ONE on here guessing how much money WRI has or makes, how many wildlife rehabbers are WRI members, how many birds, animals, repiles and amphibians WRI rehabbers take into care in one year or euthanize, etc. is remotely correct. Things are being written about the VBSPCA that are not correct. Comparisons of both are being made that are grossly incorrect as well. Fortunately, the VAB City Council will have hard numbers and the strengths and weaknesses of each in their deliberation process. In the meantime, it is evil to publish negative comments in ignorance about either organization. Both are very different and their volunteers provide a terrific service to area wildlife. - Former WRI Board member
Thank god...
...now will someone come get this moose out of my garage.
Ideally...
It seems an ideal solution would be for the 2 organizations to work together to run/staff the center. I don't have the full details, but it appears that SPCA has greater resources & a stronger network of support, while Wildlife Response has better expertise in dealing with sick/injured wildlife. Together, the 2 could make a great center. What concerns me most is these 2 groups claim to have the animals best interests at heart, but if collaborative effort is what would be best for the animals, then the real culprit here is individual ego. It's selfish of these groups to overlook the benefit of combining their efforts. As a VB resident, it is off putting. Perhaps council should require them to collaborate if they're to use the land at all.
Council Tried That Already...
Council facilitated a meeting in April that all 3 groups attended, for the purpose of discussing a collaboration. Wildlife Response's attorney asserted that a joint effort was not an option. As a result, Council offered the lease of the property up for bid following the May Council session. WREN (the partnership between Evelyn's Refuge and VBSPCA Wildlife Program) was formed so that the groups that would collaborate with one another could compete for the lease.
Re Ideally
Both groups do have the animals' interest at heart. But the SPCA takes in the majority of wildlife. To say that Wildlife Response "has better expertise in dealing with sick/injured wildlife" is simply incorrect. The SPCA has more experience with all kinds of wildlife, and the SPCA and Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge have many more rehabbers. Wildlife Response routinely refers callers to the SPCA because the SPCA can deal with more animals than Wildlife Response can.
yeah right
They get donations because they're well known but the little guy often does more good. Sharon Adams LOVES killing animals almost as much as PETA.
StraightForward says it all doesn't it?
Sharon Adams along with the other unfortunate folks at the SPCA who MUST make the difficult decision to euthanize animals do so only out of necessity (wildlife many times present with injuries so horrendous, humane euthanasia is kinder) And as far as pets are concerned,again euthanasia is at times a necessary evil due to the high volume of dumped pets (kid wouldn't care for the ___) or the ever popular "we're moving, so fido or mittens can't come along".UM yea.pet carriers come in all sizes, some large enough for a child to play in).BREEDERS are another boil on the butt of those in this position.Then the idiot people who must BUY a "championship bloodline" animal and then they breed,and so on.To presume she "loves" killing them is ignorant.
Wrong.
I didn't PRESUME she loves killing them. I do volunteer work for ALL the local shelters, the SPCA included. I know all about horrible breeders and people who are just too stupid to spay and neuter. However, Sharon Adams has a very loud voice in the fight AGAINST the no-kill movement. It is WRONG to kill healthy, adoptable animals (or wildlife that have a chance with rehab). If I call the SPCA about injured wildlife I've picked up somewhere, they usually direct me to Wildlife Response. I know several of those rehabbers throughout Hampton Roads and they do a great job. Granted, they don't have the money the SPCA has to work with but that doesn't mean they couldn't if they were given the opportunity to expand.
I won't say you're lying, but.......
I seriously doubt you volunteer at the VBSPCA, otherwise you'd know that they adhere to the "No Kill" Asilomar Accords regarding euthanasia. Their euthanasia rates for domestic animals are among the LOWEST among "open access" shelters (shelters that don't turn away neonate, geriatric, sick or behaviorally challenged animals). The only way "No Kill" shelters can stay "No Kill" is to only accept animals that are adoptable. Even the euthanasia rate for wildife received by the VBSPCA Wildlife Program is lower than Wildlife Response's euthanasia rates. And if you "truly" ever called the VBSPCA about wildlife you were referred to VBSPCA Wildlife Program volunteers, not Wildlife Response. But you already know that because you "volunteer" there