YORK, Maine — York resident and veterinarian John Means is the Center for Wildlife’s go-to doctor for the most severely sick and injured animals that come into its care. He works, he said, with an incredibly talented and well-trained team of medical technicians, but under conditions that are, shall we say, less than optimal.
“We have a closet we call an exam room” in the small building that serves as the center’s reception area and administrative office as well as its medical facility. “It’s challenging to work in that environment. We have to move into the era of modern medicine. We’re getting there, but it’s expensive and challenging to do these things.”
That’s why, he said, he will “do the happy dance” the day that a planned new medical and education center opens. And that dream came much closer to reality in 2016, which began when the staff announced plans to purchase land and ended with the formation of a capital campaign committee.
In between, the staff and board has worked diligently on the proposal while still caring for a record 1,800 animals and birds as of the end of November — up from 1,525 for the entire year in 2013.
“Demand for services just keeps skyrocketing. As we try to do our work daily, every single room is full. We don’t have enough room for the wildlife, let alone the volunteers or interns or staff,” said Director Kristen Lamb. “We’ve been offered a $30,000 X-ray machine, and we don’t have room for it.”
That will change, once the new center is built, at a cost of $3.4 million between building cost, equipment costs, endowment and contingency. Plans call for a state of the art medical clinic and an education center to accommodate the schoolchildren the center now has to turn away because there’s no room. Rehabilitation buildings will be tucked into the woods away from humans, and there will also be walking trails.
The vision that began at the board level under Lamb’s leadership in previous years took hold in the first month of 2016. That’s when the center announced it had entered into agreement with the York Water District to purchase 14 acres of land — a deal that became official in August once the $94,000 was raised.
“We looked at several other places, including places on the other side of the [Piscataqua River] bridge, and we just kept coming back here and felt this is where we really ought to be,” said Tom Boisvert, a board member and capital campaign committee chair.
The center is the only facility of its kind within a several hundred mile radius, and is the go-to place for individuals, animal control officers and game wardens alike who are on the front lines of dealing with injured animals.
“They’re a godsend,” said Larry McAfee, York’s animal control officer, “especially in the town of York. When we bring something in, it’s evaluated right away and treatment starts. During the summer, we’re up there sometimes daily. They’re extremely important. I support them 100 percent.”
The increasing numbers of wildlife are due to two primary factors — neither of which are going away, said Sonja Ahlberg, the center’s medical clinic coordinator: a building boom and climate change.
“Climate change and increased development pressure create change in an animal’s environment. More people are coming into contact with them, so they’re failing to thrive. We have bats waking up in the middle of winter because it’s so warm out. The baby mammal season was a month earlier this year. We got calls about frogs in February. The demand for what we do here is only going to increase.”
At year’s end, a capital campaign committee has been formed — including strategically selected members who will bring strengths to the fundraising effort. These include Mark Pokras, DMV, the co-founder of Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine; Steve McHenry, owner of McHenry Architecture in Portsmouth, New Hampshire who has donated in-kind services already; Joanne Francis, co-owner of Smuttynose Brewery and Portsmouth Brewery, which have been consistent supporters of the center; and Barbara Amergian, a career fundraiser through York Hospital and Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth.
Boisvert said 100 percent of the center’s board of directors has contributed more than $100,000, and a private individual has also donated $100,000. The committee is expected to spend the next year seeking out lead gifts before launching the public portion of the campaign.
Boisvert remembers the feeling he had last August when the land officially became the center’s.
“When we were standing out there on that trail, all of a sudden it hit me: this is going to happen,” he said. “We could take a deep breath. But now we have to get to work. Now we own this land. And now this project is going to happen. It was an awesome feeling.”
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