Rest and rehabilitation for our furry friends

Published 5:00 am Saturday, August 12, 2006

A new photo exhibit chronicles the many patients at West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

Deep within the trees and lying low along the creeks and streams are creatures trying to coexist with their human counterparts.

Invariably, clashes occur and the critters need a helping hand. At the ready is the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, a nonprofit rehabilitation facility on the north end of the island.

A stirring photography exhibit currently on display at Virginia Mason Winslow Way offers an intimate look at the lengths the shelter staff goes to in healing and returning animals to the wild.

“We want to make the public aware of what we do and that we exist. And make the public more aware of what happens to animals,” said Kol Medina, the shelter’s executive director.

The exhibit is the brainchild of volunteer Kristin von Kreisler, who mounted the 15 photographs in the clinic’s main and north lobbies.

Von Kreisler – an animal activist and author of “The Compassion of Animals,” “Beauty in the Beast” and “For Bea” – assembled the show because she “wanted to let people know what extraordinary creatures we have living all around us and what extraordinary work the shelter is doing to help them.”

The digital photographs were manipulated and printed by Keith Barnes, the shelter’s volunteer marketing director and the president of Motive marketing agency on the island, who also designed the shelter’s new logo.

With each photograph is a description of the animal’s injury and rehabilitation process.

The success stories fuel the shelter’s efforts. In one photo, a red fox hit by a car and mauled by another animal sleeps off surgery swaddled in towels. The shelter spent five months nursing it back to health.

“Wild animals have a really strong wild spirit,” Medina said. “She injured herself in the cage. She pulled one of her teeth out (but) she got better.”

A swan graces another photo. He received antibiotics and TLC to combat a bacterial infection and was brought back to his home in Bloedel Reserve, where his mate was waiting.

The shelter cares for myriad creatures, from turtles to eagles, answering calls from Bainbridge and its environs. Among them are many orphans whose mothers were hit by cars or killed by dogs. One possum mother never made it across the road. On display is a photo of her babies, which crawled out of her pouch and were seen atop her.

A rescue call to the shelter was answered and volunteers bottle-fed the babies a special milk formula. They were weaned to kibble and eventually released in the forest.

“Patients have given us a very positive response. Many people have requested the address (of the shelter) to send donations,” said Susan Mikesell, a representative of the Virginia Mason clinic.

The photographs show the public a broad representation of what the shelter does, said Medina, who became its first director a little over two years ago. Much has changed since then.

“The place is booming,” Medina said. “Last year we treated 575 animals. This year, we’ve already treated 400.

The shelter almost closed in 2003 due to lack of funds, said Medina, who was a member of the shelter’s board of directors then.

Medina left a Seattle law firm before the board had enough money to hire someone to direct the shelter. Soon after he was offered the job.

“It started as a half-time position. Now it’s a three-quarters-time position,” said Medina, who heads the Nonprofit Law Group on Bainbridge.

The shelter’s new name more accurately reflects its mission: to rescue, diagnose, treat and release injured and orphaned wildlife. It also highlights the fact that the shelter is the only multi-species wildlife medical treatment facility in the Puget Sound area.

In 2003, the shelter had about $70,000 in annual revenue. This year’s projected revenue is $180,000. The organization exists primarily due to individual contributers. “A tiny amount” comes from the city and the county, Medina said.

The staff now includes a third employee to help with wildlife rehabilitation, an assistant to the wildlife rehabilitator and about 30 regular volunteers.

“Before we can focus a little more on growing the program, we want to spend a lot more on education,” Medina said.

A large part of the shelter’s work is phone education. The staff frequently helps resolve conflict between humans and wildlife, from a squirrel in the attic to a river otter under the porch.

“That conflict resolution work we do is so important,” Medina said. “Compassionate people want to handle this humanely, as opposed to calling a professional trapper.”

Medina urges people to call the shelter and speak to a trained volunteer when they come across an injured animal or one they think has been abandoned.

“Some animals come to us for no good reason at all. People see a baby and pick it up,” he said. “Often, they should leave it alone and the parent will come back.”

Generally, animals that are taken in are brought back to where they are found. Under the terms of its federal license, it is not open to the public.

Donations are always appreciated and a wish list for items ranging from everyday cleaning supplies to surgical tools is posted on the shelter’s Web site.

Von Kreisler’s mission is to educate people about animal suffering and ways to alleviate it.

“I’m all volunteer all the time. I just love the animals so much,” she said. “Doing this exhibit I found the mountain beaver lives under the ground (on Bainbridge). I want people to know what’s around them.”

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The wild thing

The West Sound Wildlife Shelter will hold its first “Garlic, Potato & Wine-Tasting Event and Barbecue Supper” from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 22 at Bainbridge Island Vineyard & Winery. The fund-raiser will feature organic heirloom garlic and potato varieties locally grown and donated by Laughing Crow Farm. The garlic and potatoes will be served roasted, smoked and raw, alongside BI BBQ’s smoked salmon and baby back beef ribs and various side dishes. The donated wines were produced from organically and locally grown grapes. The Irish band Eagle’s Whistle will provide the entertainment.

The event is limited to 50 people and tickets are $100 each. A donation to the wildlife shelter is included in the price. To buy tickets see www.westsoundwildlife.org and click on the “I’m ready to RSVP” link; send a check marked “West Sound Wildlife Shelter” to 7501 NE Dolphin Dr., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; or call Kol Medina at 842-6027.