News of animal-care center closure prompts donations

Alex Coolman

The manager of the county’s only center for injured and orphaned

wildlife said Friday that a groundswell of community support may allow it

to continue to treat animals.

The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange County, a Huntington

Beach organization, announced Wednesday that it would stop accepting new

animals because of severe funding shortages.

The center is virtually the only place where Newport-Mesa animal-care

agencies can send rescued wildlife. Without its services, the agencies

had planned to euthanize creatures plucked from situations such as fuel

spills.

But Gary Gorman, the center’s facilities manager, said media coverage

of the financial troubles had generated a significant amount of community

concern -- and a lot of money.

Gorman said a variety of anonymous sources donated about $20,000 to

the center, and many others pledged to make additional donations.

Contractors have volunteered to assist the center with some of the

expensive improvements -- such as paving a parking lot and improving

handicapped access -- that must be made to comply with city regulations.

The injection of cash means that the center could resume accepting

animals as early as this weekend, Gorman said.

But in the long run, he said he still worries about the center’s

financial picture and its ability to generate a regular stream of

revenue.

“What we have is an emotional, immediate outpouring of support,”

Gorman said. “We’re also looking at the long term, to be able to fund

this thing annually and keep it going.

“The hope is that somebody out there [will make] a sizablecontribution

or the pledge of an annual contribution.”

Funding from the cities that use the center’s services does not seem

like it will be such a source. Jamye Rogers, an animal control officer

with the Newport Beach Police Department, said the city pays the center

for each animal it sends there. But Newport Beach is alone in this

respect; no other city pays for the use of the center.

“That will continue,” Rogers said of Newport’s funding program. “Any

animal that we bring in, we pay to have it rehabbed.”

Rogers said she also may try to feature the center on the “Pick a Pet”

television show -- produced by the city’s animal shelter -- to bring

attention to its plight.