 |
|
Article Archive > Fur flies in state vs. wild animal rehabbers Fur flies in state vs. wild animal rehabbers A special group of people work to rehabilitate injured wildlife, and during a meeting at the Women's Club, several accused the state Division of Fish and Wildlife of making their job harder. The answers are not clear-cut, state officials and many involved in wildlife rehabilitation concede. The state said it has 35 licensed wildlife rehabilitators, or rehabbers, down from more than 100 a few years ago. Many rehabbers claim the decline is due to onerous government regulations. State officials counter it's because caring for sick animals 24 hours a day is a high-burnout proposition. What everyone at Wednesday night's gathering agreed on was that the state could not handle wildlife rehab programs without the volunteers, who operate without government financing. Trying to plumb each side of the controversy are two state legislators, Sen. Jennifer Beck and Assemblyman DeclanO'Scanlon, both R-Monmouth. Beck told the group the existing situation involving rehabbers is not working and that it needs to change. O'Scanlon said no legislation on the issue is pending, and he and Beck were listening to concerns to determine what action, if any, to take. Trying to find a consensus might be difficult, said Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief of police for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "We need rehabbers, period," Amato said. "During the birthing season, there's not a night that goes by that I don't get a call from someone who has a baby raccoon or a possum whose mother has been killed and they don't know what to do with it." Rehabbers must be licensed by the state, said Larry Herrighty, assistant director at the Division of Fish and Wildlife. Then rules must be followed on when, where and how animals can be released back to the wild, said Diane Nickerson of the New Jersey Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators. "People need to know certain things," Herrighty said. "For instance, if they're rehabbing raccoons, fox or deer, there should be minimal human contact. We don't want them to become accustomed to people as a food source." Herrighty thinks much of the criticism rehabbers direct at the state is based on miscommunication. "There's a lot of misunderstanding out there about what we require," he added. The certification process requires a year's apprenticeship, but he is willing to review that for those seeking a more limited role in rehabilitation work. Melissa Jacobs, one of only two state-certified rehabbers in Monmouth County, said she is frustrated with bureaucracy. "Fish and Wildlife is the problem," she said. "Their requirements are hindering us from doing an efficient job."
|