WildCare Foundation Seeks More Volunteers During Pandemic

A local organization said business is booming and it doesn’t see any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

WildCare Foundation is a nonprofit working to rescue rehabilitate and release animals. Executive director Inger Giuffrida said they're usually busy during this time of the year due to baby season, but nothing compares to the volume of admissions they've seen so far this year. 

“Our intake is up 20 percent even over last year, which was a record-breaking year for WildCare by far, in terms of admissions,” Giuffrida said.

Giuffrida said the organization has been able to adapt. Volunteers can come back as the state works towards getting back to normal. She is now debating whether there will be enough room for every animal.

“It's lack of enclosure capacity,” Giuffrida said. “We're kind of busting at the seams in terms of places to put these animals.”

The organization said they're not necessarily sure the reason for the drastic increase in admissions.

“Because of the deep sustained freeze that was sort of unprecedented in recent history for Oklahoma, there are a lot of animals for which this is kind of the northern edge of their range and they were not equipped to handle that,” Giuffrida said.

To keep its head above water, the organization said it’s in need of volunteers and donations. 

“We always need supplies that you need like a lot of the cleaning supplies you use in your own home,” WildCare Foundation education and outreach coordinator Kristy Wicker said. “So we need Dawn dish soap and bleach for disinfecting. We need detergent, Clorox wipes, all those kind of things that you use in your house to clean.”