Injured Birds Continue to Arrive at Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Via Uber, Lyft
Jul 16, 2019, 8:18 PM | Updated: 8:21 pm
OGDEN, Utah – Staff and volunteers at Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, have been helping animals recover there for over ten years. Now, a new trend seems to be forming in the way some of the animals are brought in there.
“It’s just crazy. People just love it,” Chairman Buz Marthaler said, referring to a Facebook post he made about a bird being brought there by an Uber driver a few weeks ago. It’s since been shared well over 2,000 times.
Since then, others seem to have caught onto the idea. Last week, Marthaler says a woman on vacation in Deer Valley spotted an injured woodpecker. Having seen the post, she too opted to summon an Uber driver. Then, Marthaler got another similar call Monday.
“He said, ‘I just can’t get away from work,'” Marthaler explained. “He says ‘I saw this online, can I do that?’ I said, ‘yeah, go ahead.'”
Marthaler says staff at the center are happy to help the animals no matter how they arrive. They however prefer the personal approach, especially if the person dropping off the animal, can throw in a donation towards it’s care. Marthaler says people should also call first to make sure the animal actually needs help.
“I guess the initial one… they called and explained what they wanted, and the driver declined. That driver’s probably wishing they had now” Marthaler said, laughing. “Now it’s going to start getting old hat after a bit, but it’s still kind of interesting, thinking outside the box to help our wildlife.”
Meantime the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah is having a record-breaking year, having already helped nearly 2,000 animals. Marthaler says they are in urgent need of donations, especially cash.
“As the number of patients go up, of course the costs go up,” Marthaler explalined. “We’re spending 65 to 67 thousand dollars a year, just on animal food alone. That’s our single highest budget item.”
People interested in donating, can check on the center’s current needs here: https://wrcnu.org/donate
