CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Summertime gives more people the chance to get outdoors and makes encounters with animals out in nature more common. But what happens when a person comes across an injured animal?
“The best thing to do is get in touch with a professional,” said Sarah Cooperman, executive director at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary in Shipman, during a recent appearance on 106.1 The Corner. “Don’t go grabbing the critters.”
Opened in 2004, Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary takes in abandoned and injured animals with the goal of rehabilitating them and then returning them to the wild. It cares for about 1,000 animals a year, all without receiving state or federal funding.
Cooperman said about 200 animals are currently at the facility, each requiring daily feeding and cleaning. They are caring for bats, foxes, possums, raccoons, squirrels and as many as 40 different species of birds…