Please Help Wildlife Rehabilitation NW Tucson Rebuild After a Devastating Fire

I am absolutely heartbroken. Wildlife Rehabilitation in Northwest Tucson had a fire on March 30th that devastated our facility.  Over 30 birds were lost as well as all our supplies, storage, and structures. Volunteers have put together a fundraising effort to help rebuild. Please donate and share this campaign at https://www.generosity.com/animal-pet-fundraising/help-wildlife-rehab-of-nw-tucson-recover-rebuild–2.

On June 10th, there will be a benefit at Sky Bar – 436 N. 4th Ave. from 6-9 pm. Our remaining educational animals Cosmo the Barn Owl and Citan the Harris Hawk will be there as well as live music and entertainment from Cabaret Boheme, HipNautique and the Tucson Tribal Belly Dance Collective. I’ll even be dusting off my dance costume for a number! 100% of the suggested donation of $7 and 15% of Sky Bar sales go toward rebuilding. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1477126375644510 for more details.

Aftermath of the fire outside – photo by Chris Bondante

The bird room after the fire – Photo by Chris Bondante

Our bird room and adjacent outdoor habitats were completely destroyed, along with food, equipment, and other items. The good news is that 86-year old owner Janet Miller is OK and most animals survived and are receiving continued care. Some of the birds lost had been educational animals for over a decade, they will all be missed.

Both of our educational Elf Owls perished in the fire. Elfie and Cleo brought joy and wonder to all who met them.

Please give what you can, and please continue to share this campaign. This is a kick off that will help us reach short term goals: resuming very limited intake, replacing supplies and equipment that were destroyed by the fire, and continuing care of the many birds and mammals that were unharmed by the fire. Stay tuned for more crowd funding campaigns and fundraising events in Tucson and beyond.  And thank you all so much for supporting this very important work!

Luna the one-eyed Great Horned Owl was a great surrogate and raised many baby owls so that they could go on to be released.

Baby Great Horned Owls

Barn Owl that we had been doing physical therapy with to help regain the use of its legs was also sadly lost in the fire.

The Wildlife Rehab receives no public funding and is paid for by Janet herself. Funds will go toward food, medicine, medical supplies, carriers, equipment, and reconstruction. Your support means that we can continue helping wild birds and small mammals recover from injury, illness and orphanhood.

Harris Hawk

Thankfully the baby bunnies were in another room and we did not lose any of them.

Here’s a wonderful video done in 2015 by Tony Paniagua at Arizona Public Media to learn more about Janet Miller and the work she has done running the wildlife rehab for over 20 years. Thank you for your caring and generosity. Click here to donate and share.

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