Injured Wild Animal Care
What to do if you find an injured wild animal
Please visit Wildlife Help and Advice for information from the Wildlife Center of Virginia's on what to do or call them at 540 942 9453.
We are also more than happy to help with wildlife you have found and bring into our care. Our veterinarians will assess and stabilize the patient, providing any treatment as necessary. They will then arrange for transport to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or the Wildlife Center of Virginia for follow up care.
Our main goal is to rehabilitate these animals so they are healthy enough to be released back into the wild. This means wild animals can't be released back to you after treatment. These animals can be only be kept in captivity while they are recovering, and rehabilitating them requires special permits. It is illegal to keep wild animals as pets.
As this is a goodwill service we provide, follow up information may not always be available. We will always try our best to keep the rescuer up to date on the progression of cases if they wish.
Please also note that we cannot see rabies vector species; foxes, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, or bats and we would advise calling the Wildlife Center of Virginia or animal control for help with these animals.
What to do if you find a baby animal
Find general advice on wild baby animals at https://www.wildlifecenter.org/healthy-young-wildlife.
Unless specifically instructed to do not offer food or water to animals you find. Most baby animals have very sensitive stomachs and feeding them the wrong diet may do more harm than good. For this reason, in addition to many others, we recommend following the advice of the wildlife center below and not trying to rehabilitate these animals on your own.
Here's more info from the Wildlife Center of Virginia concerning finding:
