“We’ve Never Had This Hard Of A Time”
Well-known local wildlife rehab and rescue center in danger of closing
INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. – It’s feeding time, and the ducks and geese and chickens and even Kiwi the emu are chowing down. The birds at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue consume 800 pounds of feed a day. It’s a lot of work, and it costs a lot of money.
Jennifer Gordon says, “It’s been a really challenging year…one disaster after another.” Gordon runs the rescue. She lost the funding from Amazon Smile when the program ended this year, and says, “We actually used to get about $30,000 a year from Amazon Smile.” The rescue is also still feeling the impacts of Covid. Gordon says, “When Covid hit, all of our volunteers quit.” And, “Our owner surrender is literally double from last year.” Gordon says, “I’m literally at the point now, I’m not sure we can pay to feed all the animals we have here.”
There are glimpses of hope. A baby pigeon was adopted while we were there. Adopter Jilliam Surber says about the birds, “They’re very sweet, they bond to you, (they) can just, like, watch TV with you.” And while there aren’t nearly enough, one volunteer told us why she shows up. Monika, who didn’t want to share her last name, says, “I think that it’s really important as humans, to look around and go, ‘Where can I help, who needs me most?’ And this is where I personally felt I was needed.”
Gordon and the animals need three things. They need donations, volunteers and they need people to adopt the animals. Gordon says, “We’re trying to do all three right now, if we could get the funds in, that would solve all of our problems.”
And if you’re wondering: yes, the rescue did have a healthy savings account before Covid and a national bird flu outbreak last year drained it. Gordon says, “There are so few people that are fighting for these animals…I am desperate because I want to save the place and I don’t even know where these animals would go.”
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue is the only rescue and rehab center of its kind on the east coast. Gordon says if you can make a donation, Venmo (@CWRescue) or PayPal gets to the rescue fastest.
