There are more wild animals found sick, injured, or orphaned than there is capacity for rehabilitators to help them. This fact is one of the hardest parts about being a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, no matter where they live in this world. Rehabilitators know they cannot help every single animal reported to them, as hard as they may try, and that ultimately, some animals will be kept by members of the public longer than the legal allowance of 24 hours. Whether those wild animals are taken and held intentionally by someone, such as keeping them as an illegal pet, or if they are only in someone’s possession because the person intends to bring them to a rehabilitator, every wild animal needs (and deserves) to be cared for by professionals who have training, expertise, and knowledge about the individual species. Wildlife rehabilitators earn their licenses by studying a species’ life history, dietary requirements, and developmental needs and are supported by veterinarian who can diagnose the animals’ condition and provide appropriate medical treatment. Every wildlife rehabilitator is unique and many of them specialize within a category of class, order, family, genus, or species (e.g., Aves, Accipitriformes, Accipitridae, Buteo, or Red-tailed Hawk).

Over the last eight years, DCHS’s Wildlife Center staff have passively tracked the number of wild animals that were admitted to the clinic and those held over 24 hours by the public prior to that point, only to get a sense of what reasons might cause a delay to occur, which species are kept most often, and how long wildlife are kept. From our Center’s data (January 2017 to July 2025), 926 individual patients were found more than 24 hours before admittance. Of those individuals, 33% (n=309) were categorized as having experienced “inappropriate human possession” (e.g., they were taken from their environment with the intent of rescue or kept as a pet) or “unauthorized or untrained rehabilitation” to indicate that some form of inappropriate care was provided to the animal. 

Moreover, the length of time that an animal was held ranged from just over 1 day to as long as 8 years, with the median value being 40 days, and the most common timespan being 2 days before bringing a patient to DCHS’s Wildlife Center. Eastern cottontail rabbits, Mallard Ducks, and American Robins comprised 329 individuals and were the top three species of wild animals held for more than 24 hours. Various reasons finders shared with us include, “I did not know your program (or facility) existed” or “It took too long to get ahold of anyone who could help me – it was after-hours or every rehabilitator that I called was full.”

Yet, the toughest response comes frequently from Department of Natural Resources representatives, stating “Let nature take its course.” While this is completely legal advice and within reason when few options are left, our human compassion and empathy towards saving an animal will usually trump the alternatives of putting it back or leaving it alone to suffer in the environment. Local veterinarians can sometimes offer emergency euthanasia services for grievously suffering wild animals, but not all have the resources or permissions from their clinics to assist. So, when few other choices exist for the public, the less difficult one tends to be rescuing wildlife and bringing it home to help it, regardless of whether someone knows what to do next in the situation.

As was the case for Canada Goose, #25-1071. In early April 2025, a hatchling goose was found in downtown Milwaukee, alone and unattended, in front of a local business. Caring finders took possession of the gosling and tried to wild-foster it, not knowing enough about the process, wildlife rehabilitation, or any other local organizations that could help them. Instead, they looked to others within their circle for help, finding a relative who offered to raise it on their farm for the next 8 weeks. However, when it got too big for them to manage, they finally contacted the DNR who then referred them to DCHS’s Wildlife Center. Nine weeks later, this juvenile goose was admitted for rehabilitation in hopes that it could still be reunited with its species or eventually released. 

At the same time, another juvenile Canada Goose, #25-1152, was found in downtown Madison with its leg wrapped tight in fishing line. The constriction injury left its mid-tarsometatarsus swollen, limp, and cold to the touch, reducing blood supply and nerve function to the distal limb and foot. While their case was severe, this gosling was successfully treated and kept for two weeks in care before returning to its family. Since the two geese were being rehabilitated at the same time, they were introduced to each other and housed together for company. Our team suspected that gosling #25-1071 was already habituated, and potentially tame, to human presence, but having both birds offered staff the chance to see how they would react to each other as the same species. 

Initially, gosling #25-1071 was ignored by, and sometimes chased or “nipped at” by gosling #25-1152, but eventually they settled into their enclosure. Trail camera footage showed the illegally-held gosling following the other one around, observing its eating and swimming behaviors and attempting to make connections throughout the day. By the time gosling #25-1152 was ready for release, staff believed that the two birds tolerated each other’s presence enough to consider gosling #25-1071 a wild-foster candidate within #25-1152’s family unit. On the last weekend of June 2025, both geese were taken downtown to release them.

More than five gaggles of geese, varying in age, were present at the release location, including the family that gosling #25-1152 came from, as evidenced from their immediate response to reunite. This goose happily joined the rest, picking at grass and honking happily (so we think) with its parents and siblings. While we try not to anthropomorphize our stories, this particular release felt good – positive to say the least – knowing that at least one of the two goslings would be successfully rehabilitated and released from our program. Unfortunately, even after two hours of monitoring, gosling #25-1071 had not connected with any other geese, no matter how hard they tried. In the end, the bird returned to DCHS and is pending placement with a zoo, sanctuary, or other animal care facility because of “maladaptation” during early upbringing.

Whatever the reason for keeping a wild animal for more than 24 hours after rescue, wildlife rehabilitators are forced to navigate the ramifications of those decisions after admitting the animal days, months, or years later when “things don’t work out.” Untrained people may unintentionally do more harm than good to an animal after attempting to feed, house, care for, or interact with wildlife, therefore reducing the chance of a successful outcome. This was the case for Canada Goose #25-1071, so we hope their example helps to educate the public about the complexities in our profession and need for services like ours in the community.

The world is a much different place now than it was in the mid-1970’s when wildlife rehabilitation was in its infancy as a professional occupation. Today, there is a lot of information on the internet about what to do with wildlife and how to care for them – materials that are considered both a blessing and a curse for rehabilitators. For example, increased online access allows for faster response times when someone has a question about what to do with an animal that they found, such as accessing our website for resources or e-mailing us a photo of an animal to identify. Conversely, forums exist to instruct people about how to treat and keep wildlife without having a license, and some might even promote it. Social media further influences the public by showcasing animals in unique ways – yet, whether for educational purposes or just to share creative content and gain “likes,” some of it is not appropriate for viewers of any age. From our Center to all – help us to keep wildlife wild and advocate for increased wildlife rehabilitation services here and elsewhere around the world.

Jackie Sandberg is the Wildlife Program Manager at DCHS's Wildlife Center