In 1991, a small group of local rehabbers came together to form Wildlife Welfare, Inc. to unite our efforts to better care for orphaned and injured wildlife.  In the beginning, we struggled financially and quickly realized that in order to better help wildlife, we needed to help the rehabbers. Foods, formulas, supplies, medicines and vet bills were taking a toll on each individual’s finances. It was expensive to care for one animal and even more so for a rehabber who had 20 or more. It’s a terrible experience for a rehabber to turn animals away because of a lack of funds.

In 1994, a wonderful friend and mentor to WWI, Dr. Diane Deresenski DVM, came to our rescue. She had met Mrs. Helen Bell while working at a vet clinic in Florida. Mrs. Bell brought her pets there to be treated. After some time, they became good friends and kept in contact after “Dr. D” left Florida and moved to Raleigh. Dr. D treated many “wild” patients here and understood how great the need of our organization was to the area’s wildlife. She contacted her dear friend and animal lover, Mrs. Bell, and enlisted her support in behalf of WWI.

Mrs. Bell’s steady, generous support since 1994 changed everything for WWI. Our core rehabbers were able to concentrate solely on saving wildlife instead of planning and staging activities to raise money. We were able to buy formulas, foods and supplies in bulk and share with all our rehabbers, who in turn were able to take in more animals.  We started out with just handful of rehabbers in Wake County, and we now have rehabbers in seven counties and, therefore, are helping more animals than ever.

Our longtime friend and supporter died this past fall, 2009. Although she never traveled to our area and never met any of our rehabbers, she trusted us year after year and must have known in her heart, perhaps through our pictures and letters, that our mission was real. Even though she lived hundreds of miles from Raleigh, Mrs. Bell’s generosity made the greatest difference for us and for thousands of wild animals. We hope that somehow she realized the extent of what her contributions made to our wildlife in our area.

Thank you, Mrs. Bell, for believing in us and our efforts to give our beloved wildlife a second chance.  

Wildlife Welfare, Inc. is an organization in and around the Raleigh, North Carolina area dedicated to the rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned wildlife. It was formed in 1991 by licensed wildlife rehabilitators and wildlife lovers. Local rehabbers in our area are involved in helping approximately 2000 animals each year.

We would like to thank our outstanding newsletter editor Kim Ashby for all of her hard work on our newsletter. You can read a past issue of it for yourself here. To receive future copies directly in your inbox, sign up by sending an email to newsletter@wildlifewelfare.org

Wildlife Welfare would like to welcome the new Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic! Visit them at www.trianglewildlife.org.