One of the conservation and community services we provide at the Long Beach Animal Hospital is our wildlife program. This program is a voluntary community service that provides free care for any injured wildlife. Our only requirements are that the animals must be brought to us and that they must be injured.
Every year, we care for well over 1,000 animals in this program. Even though most are successfully released back into their native habitat, some are euthanized because of the severity of their injuries.
We have helped animals that include sea lions and pelicans injured in oil spills and foxes caught in wildfires. The majority of the animals brought to us live within a few miles of Long Beach. This is because we have wildlife habitat all around us and also because some wildlife have adapted to “city life.”
We work closely with the California Department of Fish and Game and Long Beach Animal Control. In accordance with their regulations once wildlife are brought to our hospital, they are only released back to their native habitat by one of our staff or released to licensed rehabilitators.
The Wildlife section found on the home page of our website will give you much more detailed information along with pictures of the wild creatures we care for and some of the procedures we perform on them. Here is the link.