About

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by! Obviously I love animals, but I have a rich and diverse life outside of this arena as well. In summary, I’m a Wife, Mom, Yogi and DVM! I love hearing peoples’ stories and appreciate a good challenge. Life takes a village, let’s get together to make it happen!

What is Wildlife Rehabilitation?
It’s complicated. Rehabbers take care of orphaned, sick or injured wildlife with the goal of returning them to the wild. Appropriate medical treatment, diet, exercise and enrichment are all required to ensure the animal will survive both in rehab and in the wild. Rehabbing wildlife requires a license with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Rehabbers spends two years apprenticing under an active, licensed rehabber before they can apply for their own license. The facilities are inspected every 1 to 3 years with each license renewal, and reports are turned in annually detailing what animals were released, transferred or euthanized. The federal government issues the license for rehabilitators who care for migratory birds because they don’t fall just within the purview of the State. Wildlife rehabilitators are not permitted to practice medicine thus must have a veterinarian listed on their application who is willing to see their wildlife patients. Depending on the veterinarian, they may be comfortable with the rehabber performing some treatments from home, such as administering medications, fluids or placing bandages. Rehabbers are permitted to euthanize animals. Lastly, please always consider your source of information. There are many licensed rehabbers who may not be doing the best job. Likewise, in this day and age, many people use Dr. Google and think they can do this from home. While the information may be credible, this is illegal without a permit. Our mission is to provide information so people can make educated decisions about whether or not to intervene to take the animal to a rehabilitator.