The Red and Black

Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Variety

Media Credit: RENEE ALYWORTH Flora, an Eastern box turtle, was brought to the Small Animal Hospital showing signs of upper respiratory disease. She has since been released to be rehabilitated. [Click to enlarge]

Crippled eagles, impaled snakes and wounded squirrels are just a few of the patients a little-known service of the University's veterinary college sees on a daily basis.

A division of the Department of Zoological Medicine, the wildlife treatment crew provides a donation-funded veterinary service staffed mostly by undergraduates and clinicians who volunteer their time to help Georgia's wildlife.

The treatment crew accepts wild animals of all kinds except for rabies vectors, poisonous animals and healthy orphans. They ask those who bring in patients to fill out a short form and make a donation to the program. The clinic relies almost entirely on charitable contributions to fund everything, such as anesthesia, X-rays and blood tests.

Dr. Christine Fiorello, the assistant professor of exotic animal, wildlife and zoological medicine at the veterinary college, acts as the program's supervisor.

"We operate on about a $3,000 budget for the year," Fiorello said. "To give you an idea of the cost, we had a bald eagle come in injured last winter and that animal was here for about 10 days ... it cost us more than $1,100."

Despite limited resources, the crew keeps the quality of veterinary care high for its patients.

But the program faces more than just financial challenges - the animals' behavior also presents a unique problem.

Since a display of weakness in the wild is an invitation to be eaten, even severely suffering animals attempt to maintain a healthy façade to disguise their vulnerable condition. As a result, time is of the essence for many of the animals brought into the clinic.

"By the time you can tell that they're sick," Fiorello said, "they're usually pretty far gone."

Unfortunately, a large number of the animals the program receives are victims of human encroachment.

Continued...

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