North Texas Wildlife Center, a wildlife rehabilitation facility founded in 2021, will close its current location within 60 days after receiving an unexpected facility closure notice.
Currently operating out of a small house, the center manages a team of approximately 115 employees and volunteers who work both on-site and off-site to rehabilitate wildlife from across the region. The center faces a critical challenge: finding a new 2,500-square-foot facility within two months or risk disrupting their life-saving work for hundreds of animals annually.
Like some baby bunnies who were brought in earlier this year, the center has a track record of rapid, compassionate rescue. “We had a woman contact us because her neighbor shot a rabbit,” Director Rebecca Stokes explained. “She found the babies, called us, and brought them to us within 30 minutes. Those bunnies are about to be released back into the wild.”
The center’s sudden closure threat has sparked an outpouring of community support. “Our team has cried a lot since Friday,” Stokes said. “We’ve had so many people commenting on our posts, sharing stories of animals we’ve helped. It’s been super validating that North Texas needs North Texas Wildlife.”
We caught up with Stokes to discuss the center’s mission, this critical transition, and how the public can help save this vital wildlife rescue organization:
How did you first get involved with the wildlife center?
I found an injured opossum and did the same thing that thousands of people do every year, frantically searched for someone that could help me with them. And one of the top resources that I found online at the time was North Texas Wildlife Center.
How does the NTWC differ from other rehabilitation facilities?
What makes us special is the amount of work that we’re doing and the compassion behind it. We are a high-volume wildlife rehab center for multiple species. So we can take in birds, we can take in amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and this is a place where they jumpstart their recovery. I’m really proud of our team. We have staff members that are vet techs for 22+ years, and then we have volunteers that are just passionate about the work we do.
So when you come to North Texas Wildlife Center, a lot of times people have a really positive experience. When they bring us the animal, they do so because it’s a customer service experience. They bring us this animal that they’re scared for, and we walk them through the rehab process.
What were feelings like after receiving the notice?
The best word to summarize is overwhelmed, overwhelmed with the pressure of having a countdown timer, overwhelmed with the idea of not being able to help animals that need us, and then also overwhelmed with gratitude for the people that have donated, for the people that have sent us best wishes, for the people that are rooting for us. So overwhelmed as a general description, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Can you talk a little more about those donations/support?
We’ve had so many people, other rehabbers, say, “Hey, we need you. We’re hoping this works out for you.” We’ve had rehabbers reach out and say, “Hey, if you guys have to close down, we have the facility to assist like that. We have the space to sustain your needs,” and that’s from all across the State of Texas. We’ve had people send wishlist items. We have lunch sent for our volunteers. We have breakfast sent. And then, of course, monitoring donations that are kind of trickling in every time an article gets published or every time a Facebook post gets shared.
We have received nothing but positivity, like people are rooting for us. People are rooting for us, but also they’re obviously rooting for the animals, people, other rehabbers, other members of the community. That could be your animal control officers, that could be your neighbor, your friend, everyone is just rooting for us to succeed because they need us.
What kind of space are you looking for?
We’re looking for a minimum of 2,500 square feet of building space, and it has to be air-conditioned. It has to have plumbing, and it has to have water and electricity. We’re kind of flexible in the amount of outdoor space. If we have to change our scope of work a little bit, or the way that we’re doing things to accommodate whichever next place we can afford, we can definitely have that discussion.
What happens to the animals if they don’t find a new home in time?
Because people have made some wild assumptions, our organization is dedicated to rehabbing these animals and giving them the best chance possible of recovery and release into the wild. So one of the things that we did — the first thing, actually, after we got that phone call — was calling other wildlife centers across Texas that have big facilities and saying, “Hey, if we get shut down in 60 days, can you help us with these opossums? Can you help us with these racoons? Can you help us with these turtles?” And so we’ve kind of been able to find placement proactively so that every animal that comes to us has the chance to continue the rehabilitative care to make it back into the wild.
How can people help right now in a real, tangible way?
The biggest help that we need right now is monetary donations. Because whenever we find that place, whether it’s $500,000 or $250,000, whatever it is, we need to be prepared to say, “Hey, this is what we have in cash right now.” We need to be prepared to move quickly. And that monetary cushion can really help expedite and make it possible for us to get out of here within, I think, the remaining 55 days now and then. The next thing that people can do is just keep saving wildlife. Please, please, please, be compassionate when you see those animals that need help, scoop them up. Call us. We’re still here. We’re still taking new patients.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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