35 Years of Championing the Cause for Wildlife
Ohio Wildlife Center celebrated its 35th Anniversary on September 8, 2019 with a public open house at the Education Center featuring animal enrichment activities, fishing from the dock and visits from some of the Center’s 64 Animal Ambassadors.
The event was the Center’s “thank-you” to the community for decades of support for the state’s largest free Wildlife Hospital and rehabilitation program.
“This is a milestone in the history of Ohio Wildlife Center and its crucial role in Central Ohio rehabilitating injured, sick, and orphaned wildlife,” said Dusty Lombardi, executive director. “In 35 years we have cared for 127,000 animals at our free Wildlife Hospital, with our overarching goal to get these animals back to the wild.”
“From its earliest days operating from a garage in Clintonville, Ohio Wildlife Center has fulfilled an important mission over three decades to save animals and build an impressive network of volunteers and supporters who shared his compassion and vision to be a leader in the region,” she added.
While running a private veterinary practice in Northwest Columbus, the late Dr. Burton accepted his first wildlife patients in 1980. In 1983, the Division of Wildlife sent 30 trapped and shot raptors to his practice for care and treatment. A year later, the organization was founded with an official board of trustees and an enthusiastic group of 74 people who attended the group’s first meeting. By 1988, 1,300 animal patients were treated as Dr. Burton pioneered medical techniques and built a knowledge base for treating wildlife. He lectured across the U.S. and toured countless rehabilitation centers to learn from others engaged in wildlife care.
Pivot Point in the 90s
The nineties were a pivot point to accommodate the growing demands for space, the increasing numbers of animals rescued by concerned citizens and the realization of Dr. Burton’s dream to have a central location for conservation education accessible to the public.
The Wildlife Hospital was moved to its current dedicated space in the basement of the Animal Care Unlimited building on Billingsley Road in 1991 when Dr. Burton acquired the location for his private practice. By 1998, nearly 4,000 patients were assessed at the hospital where Dr. Burton served as chief veterinarian in addition to overseeing his private practice.
One of the Center’s earliest volunteers, Sue Anderson, initially provided space at her farm for the Center to construct its first flight cages and pre-release enclosures for the patients transitioning from the hospital to eventual release.
Education Center Opens
In 1999, the answer to the space challenges and the education dream was fulfilled when philanthropist Naomi Dempsey assisted the Center in purchasing 20 acres at Cook and Dublin Roads in Powell to officially serve as the Education Center and Pre-Release Facility. The next decade saw swift expansion with the debut of formal education programming and camps, the formation of SCRAM! as a social enterprise business unit to generate revenue for operations, and renovations to the main administrative building to serve as classroom space.
The Center’s capacity to accommodate permanent education Animal Ambassadors, wildlife that cannot be released due to permanent disabilities or other causes, was made possible with the addition of the Dempsey Animal Building that opened in 2005. A songbird aviary, waterfowl pond, mammal enclosures and a nursery facility were also added to the PRF for the thousands of animals that transition every year from hospital care to the next phase of rehabilitation. In 2016, the reclaimed Bonner Barn was constructed to extend the capacity for education programming and outreach at the Cook Road Center.
More than 250 volunteers now contribute more than 22,000 hours of service annually across the organization, including phone guidance through an InfoLine for callers seeking assistance with wildlife conflicts. About 250 outreach programs now take place each year on-site and off-site, with 65 Animal Ambassadors assisting in education programs.
Founding board member Susan Burton, who worked side by side with her husband to build Ohio Wildlife Center from concept to reality, recalls that Dr. Burton had the foresight to see the links between a growing Franklin County and its impact on wildlife. In an interview earlier in 2018, she noted, “thirty years ago Don was already concerned about the growth of Central Ohio and the hazards wildlife would face as they lost habitats,” she said. “We are certainly realizing some of the outcomes he expected, which makes the Center that much more valuable to the community.”
Burton said she and her two daughters were especially touched when the Center named its new Bald Eagle Animal Ambassador Burton in 2018, in memory of the man so dedicated to creating a center where people of all ages could learn more about native wildlife and conservation issues.
Eagles were particularly symbolic for the family, never more so than when they cared for Dr. Burton during his terminal battle with ALS disease in 2014. “It’s amazing to see the Center’s progress with our great board and our great staff,” she said. “Moving forward was Don’s dream and he would be so pleased to see what’s taking place.”
