DATE: 04/28/2015
SITE: Wildlife West Rescue Center
LOCATION: 87 North Frontage Road, Edgewood, Santa Fe Co., New Mexico
PERSONAL
REFLECTIONS:
Dana and I saw several signs advertising this place and she
really wanted to see it. Having never been to a rescue place, I thought it
might be interesting….A noble undertaking by the staff…caring for hurt animals
or what we found more often, caring for animals that had imprinted on humans
and so could not survive in the wild.
I have to say that by the end of our visit, we had to question whether, and this is not going to be at all popular, but, unless saving an endangered species from extinction, wouldn’t it have been more humane to let these animals have a peaceful death?
I’ve read reviews on this place by others but Dana and I saw something completely different. We saw animals totally unengaged and some under obvious stress, pacing back and forth. I don’t know, maybe we are not interpreting what we saw correctly but several times we mentioned to each other how alone and lonely the animals seemed.
Our first clue should have been that we were the only visitors there but we paid our entrance fee and got a map of the place. I am no slouch when it comes to reading maps but that thing made no sense and more than once I just tossed it in my purse and wandered until I found what I was looking for.
I have to say that by the end of our visit, we had to question whether, and this is not going to be at all popular, but, unless saving an endangered species from extinction, wouldn’t it have been more humane to let these animals have a peaceful death?
I’ve read reviews on this place by others but Dana and I saw something completely different. We saw animals totally unengaged and some under obvious stress, pacing back and forth. I don’t know, maybe we are not interpreting what we saw correctly but several times we mentioned to each other how alone and lonely the animals seemed.
Our first clue should have been that we were the only visitors there but we paid our entrance fee and got a map of the place. I am no slouch when it comes to reading maps but that thing made no sense and more than once I just tossed it in my purse and wandered until I found what I was looking for.
The first enclosure is for the Prairie Dogs of which we saw
exactly zero. I guess depending on the time of day, they just may have not been
active.
The next area were the birds and they had quite a few. …
There were 2 of these Crested Carcara’s…a brother and sister,
Max and Polly who, one of the volunteers told us, constantly breed but never
have hatched any chicks. The whole time we were there, they paced back and forth
along a ledge poking at the window.
A turkey vulture named Festus
We passed by a “western town”, a “theater” and an
“amphitheater” that has seen much better days.
Next was Wile E. Coyote. We were told she loves to play with
her toys and was very active but when we were there, she laid against the fence
and never once looked our way.
Forest, the grey fox, paced back and forth over and over again
and it was obvious he does this on a regular basis because there is a worn area
that really isn’t that big.
The absolute bright spot of our visit was the elk….The sign said
there were 3 of them, but we only saw the one. He came right up to the fence
and licked my sneakers.
Orea or Rachel, the raccoon was snoozing away…something you’d
expect from a nocturnal animal.
The place was shabby and in need of some care. This is in no
way meant to undermine the dedication or determination of the staff. We met
several going about their work and willing to talk to us about the animals. My
guess is the shabbiness directly relates to the fund raising done to support
the group.
Looking at their website and the reviews of this place, it
sure seems as if we were viewing another place entirely. Maybe they ramp up for
the summer?
I haven’t been to any other facility with the same objective
as this group so I really don’t have anything to compare it to…all I know is
that when we left, we were profoundly sad for the animals.
