Alaqua Opens New Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
Located on five acres within their original Whitfield Rd. property in Freeport, a new Alaqua Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a state and federally permitted facility, is providing a much-needed resource for rehabilitating sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife. “Alaqua receives a dozen or more calls a week to help injured wildlife, and up until this point we have had to send them to another facility,” said Alaqua Founder Laurie Hood. “It is heart-wrenching to think there is an animal out there suffering. We are thrilled to finally be a resource for people in our community when they see injured wildlife, and we will also be able to educate them in the process.”
A highly experienced wildlife specialty team has been assembled with a combined 30 years’ experience working with wildlife in clinical settings. The facility includes a fully functional wildlife clinic with surgical suite, triage area, ICU for critical animals, a detached avian nursery, and a mammal nursery with rabies vector species quadrant to provide specialized care for orphaned babies in a contained environment. Additional outdoor habitats including a brand-new flight cage have also been constructed on the wooded property to provide an environment free from common urban stressors. This will allow the rehabilitation process to happen in a setting that is closely similar to being back in nature.
Animals of all types are welcome including shore birds, seabirds, birds of prey, mammals, marsupials, and reptiles.
Alaqua and its staff have met all requirements and permitting associated through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Animals may be dropped at the Alaqua Whitfield Campus from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 7-days a week (located at 914 Whitfield Road, Freeport). Individuals needing assistance can call the office at (850) 880-6697 or the FWC Wildlife Hotline at (888) 404-3922.
Healing Paws For Warriors Graduates Veteran / K9 Teams
The Florida Panhandle’s nonprofit group Healing Paws for Warriors (HP4Ws) graduates 15 (x7) additional veteran/service dog teams after three months of intensive training:
(Retired – Army) James Mulcahey (and service dog Bluie); (Retired – Air Force) Tom Talbot (and service dog Rosie); (Retired – Army) Ryan Reeves (and service dog Truman); (Retired – Air Force) Kevin Baird (and service dog Ser); (Retired – Air Force) Denise Fox (and service dog Glory); (Retired – Navy) Jessica Pickett (and service dog Valor); (Retired – Navy) Keith Wade (and service dog Sierra); (Retired – Marine) Scott Pence (and service dog Legend)
Individually, each team either suffered from a physical injury or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and or Military Sexual Trauma (MST) during deployments while serving our country.
While the physical injuries were diagnosed and treated by medical teams, the psychological trauma takes more time. Trained service dogs have shown to be effective in aiding in medical crises and alleviating the physical and emotional symptoms our veterans continue struggling with long after returning from the battlefield. The veterans were matched with their K9 partners after being rescued from local shelters.
Healing Paws is a volunteer-based program dedicated to supporting our military men and women and reducing veteran suicide. To learn more, visit www.healingpawsforwarriors.org or contact us at info@healingpawsforwarriors.org.
Heroes
Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers have been lauded as heroes – and rightfully so – during the COVID-19 pandemic as their already high-stress jobs quickly morphed into extreme, ongoing pressure to help people. The people helping animals – shelter and rescue workers, veterinarians and vet techs – are heroes, too, though it’s even more behind the scenes. They get a wagging tail, a gentle lick on the hand, or a purring headbutt.
Dog-Harmony, as part of its mission to support the people on the front lines of homeless and hurt pets, invites shelter, rescue and veterinary workers to a celebration of their commitment to animals from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Dog-Harmony headquarters, 237 Market St., Santa Rosa Beach. The event also is hosted by Amanda Rietheimer, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and Behavior Modification Coach.
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