12/02/2026
When I started off my journey on becoming a rehabber, my question on why we care for doves and pigeons if there are so many, was met with a gentle yet invaluable answer: "It's not our place to play God".
We help who we can, and those that we can't we help them go gently yet quickly.
We don't discriminate between species and decide who may live and who not. We do what we can, and find peace in the fact that we have tried.
We make mistakes, we learn, we forgive ourselves, we improve and then we teach.
Rehab is not easy, it's a calling.
Wildlife rehabbers have to have thick skin...
Every action, every word, every decision gets picked apart. People who have never rehabbed an animal, who have never sat up all night with one, who have never held one while it took its last breath, somehow feel very confident in telling us we’re wrong.
We advocate for animals that many folks label as “nuisance,” “trash,” or disposable. The animals that don’t get cute calendars or easy sympathy. The ones whose only crime is existing in a human-dominated world.
That advocacy can really hit a nerve, especially within some hunting and trapping communities. For some, it feels personal when rehabbers speak up for predators or promote coexistence. But advocating for wildlife isn’t an attack on people... it’s a commitment to the animals who don’t get a voice in the conversation.
Rehabbers aren’t anti-hunter. We aren’t anti-human. We’re pro-wildlife. Pro-balance. Pro-responsibility. Pro-compassion... even when it’s uncomfortable.
And here’s the part people don’t see:
We are the ones scraping bodies off of roads. We are the ones bottle-feeding through exhaustion. We are the ones holding animals as they die because human choices left them no other ending. We see the cost of indifference up close, every single day.
We don’t speak up because it’s easy.
We speak up because silence would be easier... and wrong.
So, we have to develop tough skin.
Not because we don’t care what people say to us or about us, but because the animals need us to keep showing up anyway. Even when we’re criticized. Even when we’re misunderstood. Even when standing up for them isn’t popular. The animals need someone who will stand in the gap for them when the world decides a life is disposable.
We don’t get to choose which animals deserve compassion.
We just choose to give it.
Even when it costs us.
And to all of our wildlife rehabbing friends... many, many thanks! Keep being that voice and sounding that alarm!
-Jamie 🤎
This is not our photo. I found it online and thought it fit our post perfectly.
