
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990                   TAG: 9007090239
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WEYERS CAVE                                LENGTH: Medium

ANIMAL CENTER SWAMPED

A state hospital that tends injured wildlife has been overwhelmed by its own success, its staff and resources stretched by a growing tide of ailing creatures.

"We got 39 animals in one day last month," said Ed Clark, director of The Wildlife Center of Virginia. "It was a record-breaking day and almost a staff-breaking day."

The center is the state's only facility devoted to healing wild animals. Clark took in 1,300 wild animals last year, but has already cared for 1,000 in the first six months of this year.

"More people know about us," Clark said. "More people are sensitive to the plight of injured wildlife. Five years ago they would have left an animal by the side of the road or whacked it on the head. Now they bring it to us."

The hospital is housed in two trailers packed with cages, laboratory equipment and desks. Animal pens, harboring owls, foxes, eagles, opossums and other wildlife, are crowded nearby.

Clark hopes recently announced plans to build a large complex, including a new animal hospital, will spell relief. The new hospital will be built on eight acres in Waynesboro donated by the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.

Construction of the new Wildlife Center will begin this year and is expected to be completed by 1991.

The complex will include a 5,700-square-foot hospital and administration building. The current facility occupies less than 2,000 square feet.

"This will be one of the most sophisticated veterinary facilities of its type in the country," Clark said. "The new facility will enable the Wildlife Center to finally hit full stride and realize its potential."

The center has one full-time veterinarian on its 12-member staff. It operates on a $250,000-a-year budget obtained mostly from small donations from about 1,500 supporters.

Fund-raising has just begun for the $800,000 building project, Clark said.

The center was born in November 1982 when Clark, his wife, Nancy Sheffield, and another couple began taking care of injured animals in a Waynesboro horse barn. The operation moved to Weyers Cave in 1985.

It is the only facility in Virginia permitted to handle endangered species and has taken injured eagles from Virginia and surrounding states.

Veterinarians from all over the country train at the center, though lack of room has limited the numbers.

by CNB