Animal Control Officers and Volunteers Provide Special Care and Support for our Wildlife

• Sick or injured animals are prioritized year round 
  
  

• For proper care, the Animal Commission works closely with volunteers and providers around the state 

Wildlife can be very active during certain seasons and the job of rescuing wildlife starts with the reporting party. If residents see something, they are strongly encouraged to say something.  If a resident sees a sick or injured animal, the Cambridge Animal Commission will prioritize all sick and injured animals as an emergency 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They rescue animals of all species: racoons, squirrels, birds, bats and much more! They also take public safety seriously; a sick or injured animal can be unpredictable and might bite, so they will respond. 

If an animal needs medical treatment, Animal Control Officers will transport it to a local veterinarian for evaluation. Sometimes the animals are humanely euthanized only because the animal may already be suffering, and officers care deeply and wouldn’t want any animal to suffer. 

Helping our wildlife takes an entire community to ensure these animals get the proper and prompt care necessary to help them heal and return to the wild where they belong. Most wildlife rehabilitators are volunteers who do this in their spare time, therefore it can be difficult to reach one immediately. Animal Control Officers will post on a social media page called ACO and Wildlife Rehab Connection of MA for urgent placement.  Once they have placement, officers will then coordinate with amazing volunteers on another social media web page called Wildlife Rescue Rides.  This group currently has 1.5K members! It is intended for people interested in giving injured and orphaned wildlife in Massachusetts a ride to where they need to go for treatment. 

If a bird of prey such as hawk, falcon, owl etc. is sick or injured, officers will rescue the animal. They will then make arraignments with Tuft Wildlife Clinic in Grafton or New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth and also notify the Environmental Police and the Department of Fishiers & Wildlife if the animal has a leg band or is a public safety concern as these types of animals are protected. 

A reliable volunteer (Peter Faust who works for Editas Medicine in Cambridge) helps transport regularly. Peter will transport to rehabbers or facilities closer to his home near Taunton.  Peter states that he found the wildlife rescue rides on Facebook from New House Wildlife Rehab and has been transporting since the Wildlife Rescue Rides page was established on January 2019. The furthest Peter has traveled to help an animal receive the proper treatment was 100 miles! The Animal Commission wouldn’t be able to help as many animals as we do without volunteers like Peter!