With the resignation of its sole wildlife rehabilitator, the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, part of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Upper Roxborough, has closed.
Since the state issues wildlife rehabilitation permits to individuals, not institutions, the clinic, which treats between 3,000 and 4,000 sick and orphaned animals a year, was essentially left without a license to practice its work. The clinic is charged with treating native wildlife with a few exceptions, including bears, deer and poisonous snakes.
Founded in 1987, it is one of a handful statewide operating under the umbrella of a nature center. Most wildlife rehabilitation is done by licensed individuals, many of whom run operations out of their homes.
Armed with a plan, Schuylkill Center officials hope to reopen the clinic by late summer. That plan addresses, in part, the concerns of the clinic's former rehabilitator Martina Martin, whose abrupt exit in late April seemed to have been spurred by a situation years in the making.
With the clinic understaffed, Martin, a 15-year volunteer, said she reluctantly took the state's wildlife rehabilitation test to fill the void after the clinic's founder and longtime director, Patricia O'Connell, retired last year.
Promises to add two rehabilitators, a director and paid staff went unfulfilled, she said. Moreover, in a letter to volunteers and supporters announcing her resignation, Martin alleged that the clinic's former administrative director Mary Deroo administered incorrect medications and dosages, allowed visitors to view injured animals and let personnel from a television news crew handle live animals.
In her letter, Martin says her concerns were inadequately addressed by Schuylkill Center officials, whose response she called "slow and inadequate." "We do not have the staffing to allow us to give quality care to the animals we expect to receive," the letter reads. "I will not be party to substandard care."
In an interview on Monday, Martin said relations with Deroo were "impossible," ultimately driving down the volunteer pool to "critical levels." Two of the clinic's most experienced volunteers left as a result of clashes with the administrative director, she said. "We didn't have enough staff to do a good job," she said. "And I wasn't going to be part of it."
According to Dennis Burton, acting executive director of the Schuylkill Center, Deroo was laid off late last month simply because the clinic had been shuttered, not because of her performance.
In a recent interview prior to her dismissal, Deroo did not deny allegations that she had administered the wrong medications and given small tours. "I made mistakes. We all make mistakes," Deroo said. "I could pull out charts on [Martin] and show you her mistakes." Despite the errors, Deroo said her actions had never resulted in the injury or death of an animal. "When I took this job, I was upfront about my weakness with the medications," said Deroo, who worked for the Schuylkill Center in various capacities over the last five years.
She also admitted to giving one- to two-person tours on occasion.
Deroo contended that Martin, along with a small group of volunteers, were motivated by personal politics, not her leadership abilities. As a former coordinator, Deroo said she had successfully grown the Schuylkill Center's volunteer program. "This is about sour grapes," she said. "It's a bunch of mad volunteers … This is not their little playground."
She said she worked with center officials to address Martin's complaints, but "there was nothing we could do to resolve their issues."
Dr. Len Donato, the clinic's veterinarian and a member of the center's board of trustees, said the impasse between the volunteers and the administrative director was complicated by persistent low-level staffing.
While the clinic was better than most in the state, its limitations had frustrated the band of dedicated volunteers for years, he said.
Robyn Graboski, a member of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Council, a six-member advisory committee appointed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said concerns over staffing and care had been ongoing issues.
Graboski, as a council member and fellow rehabilitator, offered help when she was contacted by clinic volunteers two years ago. After visiting the clinic, Graboski was impressed. She said the volunteers were "highly trained." "Some very dedicated people kept that center open and running," she said. "The volunteers did a bang-up job but they were overwhelmed with the workload."
The situation is not uncommon, said Graboski, who works 14-hour days at the rehabilitation center she runs out of her home near State College. "It's not terribly unusual for people to get overwhelmed when they are involved with animal rehabilitation," Graboski added. "It's like working in an emergency room all day, every day. I don't think the Schuylkill Center understood the magnitude of the work these volunteers did."
In compliance with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the clinic has not housed or treated wildlife since late April when Martin resigned, said Donato, the clinic's veterinarian. It farmed its animals out to five local licensed rehabilitators, he said. According to Gerald Feaser, a game commission spokesman, there are about 80 licensed wildlife rehabilitators statewide.
Under the Schuylkill Center's new plan, the clinic would employ two wildlife rehabilitators - one part time, one full-time - and an administrative assistant. Also, a rotating crew of veterinarians would staff the clinic five days a week. The plan eliminates the position of administrative director, shifting some oversight duties to the executive director of the Schuylkill Center. Before its closing, the wildlife clinic had operated mostly under the radar of the center's board, Donato said. While it received regular funding and operated on the Schuylkill Center's grounds, the clinic remained a mystery to many trustees, he said.
Donato, who runs Radnor Veterinary Hospital in Wayne, raised the clinic's profile when he joined the center’s board in January. He started volunteering at the Schuylkill Center in 1993 while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Now, the board has unanimously approved what Donato calls a "nice budget" for the clinic. Officials have already identified the part-time rehabilitator, he said, and are conducting a national search to fill the full-time position. "Pretty much all the pieces have come together," he said.
Burton, the center's executive director, said the restructuring could allow the clinic, which had previously operated almost independently of the center, to reach its full potential.
So far, the move seems to have been well-received.
Donato said he's asked about 60 volunteers to return upon the clinic's reopening. More than half have expressed interest, he said. "All the volunteers are invited to come back," he said.
While Martin finds both the center's new leadership and plan encouraging, she said officials should focus more resources on staffing to accommodate the clinic's high volume, much of which is comprised of injured or sick baby animals.
Martin, a retiree, said she was unsure about whether she would return when the clinic reopens, saying she was tired after 15 years of service. She hopes others will continue the work. As the city's only wildlife rehabilitation clinic, it plays a vital role in the local ecology, she said. "It could be a great place."
Advice for animal lovers
According to Gerald Feaser, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the well-intentioned acts of many wildlife lovers often result in an animal's untimely death. The work should be left to the state's licensed rehabilitators, who are required to pass both written and oral exams, in addition to securing the sponsorship of an already-licensed rehabilitator and the assistance of a veterinarian, he said. "The procedure is in place to ensure these are qualified individuals," Feaser said.
Many times, people act without giving nature a chance, said Dennis Burton, a restoration ecologist and acting executive director of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Baby birds who have fallen from their nests should be left alone for some time before human intervention, Burton said. A person's mere presence will keep the animal's mother away, he said. "Wildlife is out there because it survives on its own," he said.
Still, the clinic sees its fair share of serious cases each year. With its closure, residents of Northwest Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs who encounter a sick or injured animal may want to contact:
The Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation
& Education Center 107 Twining Bridge Rd.
Newtown, PA
(215) 968-4963
