WILD LIFE CARE

Helping You Navigate Injured Wildlife Situations with Veterinary Guidance

All Creatures is only licensed to treat injured wildlife and is only allowed to hold wildlife for 48 hours to rehab before release. We cannot accept orphaned or baby (uninjured) animals. Not all wild animals who appear to be orphans actually are orphaned. Finally, it may be illegal to transport wildlife across state or county lines and it may be illegal to own or care for wildlife in your own home. Once injured wildlife has been brought to us for care, we are unable to return the animal back to you for any reason. We provide basic care information on how to resolve an issue you may be having with injured or abandoned wildlife. For detailed information or for assistance finding a rehabilitator to care for orphaned or baby (uninjured) wildlife, please check out this site: Animal Help Now

CAUTION!
Handling a wild animal can be dangerous to you and harmful for the animal. Protect yourself from disease and injury. Please exercise caution and good judgment before handling, transporting, or otherwise disturbing a wild animal. (1) never approach or attempt to rescue an animal who is behaving abnormally (circling, staggering, etc.) or shows signs of disease (salivating, discharge from the eyes or nose, etc.) and (2) always wear thick gloves whenever handling wildlife.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What do I do if I find an uninjured (possibly abandoned or orphaned) baby wildlife?

Never attempt to rehabilitate wildlife by yourself. As a rule, you must have a license to treat wildlife. Rehabilitating wildlife without a license often places undue risk upon the animal. Animals have very specific needs that often only the experts know and can accommodate. All Creatures cannot take in abandoned, orphaned, or uninjured wildlife animals. Check out the following sites for information on other rehabilitators that can provide more long-term care:

What if I find an injured animal I want to bring to All Creatures?

Click Here on information about bringing a wildlife animal to All Creatures

If I find an injured adult deer: Adult deer don't handle the stress of capture and captivity well, and attempts to treat an injured adult deer typically will do more harm than good. If the deer can walk and is in a relatively safe place, simply leave the deer alone. If she cannot stand, euthanasia is likely the most humane option. In either case, do not approach the deer--an injured and scared deer could easily injure you or make her injury worse. If she is severely injured or near a busy road, contact a wildlife emergency professional through Animal Help Now for advice, or call 911 or Animal Control
If an animal is stuck in a glue trap: click here for info on how to best assist or transport a glue-trapped animal
Click Here for helpful tips on capturing wildlife safely

What if I find an injured bird of prey (hawk, owl, etc)?

Owls, hawks, and other birds of prey are very dangerous to approach. They have talons that can easily pierce skin and cause serious injury. We recommend you do no approach and call animal control to remove it from your location.
Click Here on what to do if you find an injured owl or hawk

Rabies and Wildlife: What do I need to know and do if I encounter a possible ‘rabies’ infected animal?

Only mammals can get rabies. The most common carriers are skunks, raccoons, bats, coyotes, and foxes
Unfortunately, All Creatures is not licensed to medically treat wildlife that could carry rabies. We do not know of any group that will take in a rabies vector (possible rabies carrier) animal.
Rabies is transmitted through the saliva or bite from an animal that is infected with rabies. DO NOT APPROACH any wildlife that could be carriers of rabies for your own safety.
If you find one of these possible rabies carriers that is injured, do not approach. Call animal control about capturing and removing them from your location
For more info on Rabies, Click Here for more from the Center for Disease Control

What to do if a wildlife animal is a nuisance or in conflict with humans?

Most wildlife never comes close to people. And in fact, many people enjoy seeing wildlife and find the viewing of wildlife a complement to their property and environment. So, what makes an animal a "nuisance"? For most people, it is when the animal becomes invasive or destructive. Some of the species most often cited as nuisance include coyotes, raccoons, foxes and deer. Check out the Georgia Department of Natural Resources or University of Georgia Extension Office for information on how to handle nuisance or conflict wildlife. Check Out Animal Help Now’s “Wildlife Conflict” section for possible assistance in your area

Wildlife Services

All Creatures maintains a licensure that allows our medical staff to treat injured wildlife as a way for us to do all we can to help the animal world. This is a service we provide at no cost to you. Unfortunately, we are not a rehabilitation center, and so we are not allowed to provide long-term treatment and care for an injured wildlife; we are also unfortunately not licensed to come to you to pick up injured animals for treatment. To have an animal removed from your location, you can call the local animal control for your area.

If you find an injured animal and you would like it to seen by one of our doctors, please contact us at 770-393-3400. We can have you bring the animal to us between 10am – 5pm, and our doctors will do their best to treat the injury. If we are able to successfully treat the animal, we will release them back to the wild or send them to a licensed long-term rehabilitation center for more care. If the injuries are too severe, our practice humanely euthanizes animals and they are then cremated by a professional cremation company.

If the animal does not have any visible injuries but you believe needs rehabilitation care (such as finding an abandoned baby bird or baby squirrel), please refer to these websites for more information:

All Creatures Animal Hospital

"Crusaders for the Human-Animal Bond"