Local News in Brief : Anaheim : Private Funds May Save ROP Wildlife Center

Orange County’s wildlife rehabilitation center in Anaheim, which recently was ordered shut down because of a shortage of state funding, still has a chance of being operated as a private undertaking if financing can be found.

At a meeting Tuesday night it was decided that the staff of the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program, which runs the animal compound, should study the legal possibilities of a private group or groups taking over after it closes April 15.

The staff report is due at the trustees’ April 12 meeting, but will have no effect on the closure order issued Feb. 18 by Thomas A. Kurtz, superintendent of the North Orange County ROP, in which five school districts take part.

High school students and some adults are taught to care for sick and injured animals at the compound on West La Palma Avenue, the only one in the county licensed by the state Department of Fish and Game to accept and treat all species of wild birds, mammals and reptiles and return them to the wild.

Such classes will end April 15 whether private funds are forthcoming or not, according to Pat Hansmeyer, the program’s community relations specialist.

Greg Hickman, director of the animal center, said Wednesday that he has already received a pledge of $2,500 annually from a woman who asked to remain anonymous, and has “several other similar pledges in the works.” He said he can run the center on about $100,000 a year, covering salaries, animal foods and medicines.