Find an Injured Wild Animal? There’s Now a Hotline for That in Upstate New York

Coming across an animal in distress is an upsetting and often difficult situation, especially when the animal is a little baby.

You've probably heard about the "Cat Distribution System," where friendly cats of various ages approaches and seemingly adopts a random person. Sounds adorable, doesn't it?

But, coming across a cute fluffy kitten is much less stressful than stumbling upon a tiny, injured wild animal or baby bird.

Moreover, the average citizen most likely doesn't know how to properly help animals like a raccoon, hawk, or turtle.  That is where wildlife rehabbers step in and intervene.

New York State does have a helpful website to connect residents to the nearest wildlife rehabber, but some may find the list overwhelming or even confusing. It also could become aggravating if you are unable to immediately reach a rehabber, which may lead to an untrained and unqualified person risking injury by taking matters into their own hands.

In many cases concerning injured wildlife, time is of the essence.

Kimberly DeFisher, a licensed rehabber who runs the Arctic Fox Daily Wildlife Rescue in Williamson, has taken all of that into consideration when coming up with her brand new "passion project."

This week, DeFisher launched the Finger Lakes Wildlife Hotline to help people reach a rehabber right away if they come across an animal in distress. This hotline serves the Finger Lakes area, as well as Upstate and Western New York.

The hotline is "a coalition of local, licensed wildlife rehabilitators working together to ensure our community and the animals we serve can easily access support for wildlife distress calls."

Our goal? Lessen the amount of endless calls, confusion and frustration associated with connecting finders and rehabbers. We aim to get injured and orphaned wildlife the help they need faster, while giving rehabbers more time to focus on saving lives.

Currently, over a dozen rehabbers have signed on to be part of the service that will take on mostly any animal, except those who are prone to rabies like raccoons and bats.

DeFisher says this hotline will help cut down the time it takes for a rehabber to respond to an emergency call, which will hopefully increase an injured animal's chances at life.

The hotline's launch comes at a crucial time, too. With spring right around the corner, it means "baby season" is here. Soon, people may stumble upon injured or abandoned fawns, fox kits, eaglets and more in their backyards or on the side of the road.

Knowing what to do and getting them to the right rehabber is paramount to their survival and hopeful release back into the wild.

This time of year marks one of the busiest times for our state and national rehabbers, and this hotline looks to help streamline their rescue efforts and allow them to respond much faster to calls.

The Finger Lakes Wildlife Hotline is 585-880-0168 and updates on its progress will be available on its Instagram page.

Read More: What Can You Legally Do to Help a Mangey Fox in New York?

WIBX has reached out to DeFisher for comment and she will speak on Keeler at 7:15 Wednesday morning, March 12.  We will link her interview in a later update.

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