Guardians of wildlife center suspect pig poachers
Vandals broke into the main office of San Benito’s Wildlife
Rehabilitation Center last week, probably in search of medical
supplies.
Meredith Day and her husband, James, are live-in stewards of the
remote sanctuary on Panoche Road, and say when the thieves struck
in the wee hours of Tuesday morning they took only first aid
supplies
– perhaps for an injured hunting dog. But, said Meredith, they
also damaged an outdoor aviary where an American Crow, mutilated by
humans, was recuperating. The crow escaped and, because of its
injured condition, probably didn’t survive.
Guardians of wildlife center suspect pig poachers
Vandals broke into the main office of San Benito’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center last week, probably in search of medical supplies.
Meredith Day and her husband, James, are live-in stewards of the remote sanctuary on Panoche Road, and say when the thieves struck in the wee hours of Tuesday morning they took only first aid supplies – perhaps for an injured hunting dog. But, said Meredith, they also damaged an outdoor aviary where an American Crow, mutilated by humans, was recuperating. The crow escaped and, because of its injured condition, probably didn’t survive.
The break-in has shattered Meredith Day’s faith in humans, she said. She took over the operations of the Nan Pipestem Wildlife Rehabilitation Center from her aunt, Meredith Pipestem, in late 2004.
“It really shook my sense of security,” Day said. “It seems it would be pretty obvious looking from the outside that we don’t have anything here. We’re poor. We’re a non-profit.”
The intruders broke a window to the office where the Days kept a medical cabinet and the center’s intensive care unit for its most injured patients, including a rabbit with road rash, a hawk who had mutilated itself after getting shocked by power wires, and a sick dove. None of the animals in the ICU were further harmed, but the perpetrators made off with bandage gauze, topical ointment and scissors.
Worse, the vandals also damaged the netting to an outdoor flight pen where the American Crow was recuperating. A dog had bitten off the crow’s tail feathers, said Day, and the owners of the canine tried to make a pet out of the wild bird by clipping its wings. The people finally gave the crow to the wildlife center, and Day said she was trying to rehabilitate it so it could fly again; it takes a season to grow back the wing feathers. But after the vandals hurled a 30-pound boulder at the aviary, breaking the netting, the crow escaped and was not recovered.
“I used to assume that everyone was basically good, and I don’t ascribe to that anymore,” Day said. “To have someone come in and do that on purpose … we’re always trying to get money for repairs, and money is something that doesn’t come easy out here.”
The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center relies solely on private donations and a small percentage of fine money taken in by the county’s Fish and Game Commission. Gregg Zanella, who assisted former director Pipestem in caring for the wildlife, was perpetually fighting the local commission for the center’s share of the money.
Pipestem believes the vandals were poachers.
“At first we thought it was kids stealing drugs, looking for a cheap high – which they wouldn’t get because all we have are antibiotics,” said Pipestem, former director. Pipestem ran the center for 15 years after her mother established it in 1990. Pipestem still acts as advisor to the organization.
“Now we’re beginning to think it was poachers, and that maybe their pig-dog got hurt,” added Pipestem. “We’re thinking they knocked the netting out of the crow’s pen just to throw Meredith (Day) off, because they didn’t steal the crow. Meredith saw the crow in the neighborhood a day or two after the break-in.”
Day says she isn’t as sure about the motive as her aunt.
“After what they did to the aviary, I think maybe they were just doing it to be jerks,” Day said.
When Day spotted the crow a day and a half after the break-in, she tried in vain to coax the it back to its aviary, running after the bird for hours with a bath towel in one hand and a cell phone in the other. But the crow – apparently well enough to fly short distances at this point – would have none of it. Day said the crow, while he might appear to be healthy, is still vulnerable. When Day called for him, several ravens, which are bigger and more territorial than crows, were already “after him,” Day noted.
“When I saw him he was getting the crap beaten out of him by ravens,” she said, close to tears. “Of course, he’s not too hot on people after what happened to him. After everything that happened to him, he didn’t deserve that.”
Day discovered the break-in when she returned to the remote center – situated on the edge of Panoche and Cottonwood roads on the eastern part of the county – after driving her husband to work last Monday morning. She had been sick with tonsillitis during the week so did not hear any disturbances the night before. She called the sheriff’s department, and a deputy came out and took a report.
The two wildlife stewards are now considering getting a dog with a loud bark to warn them of any future intruders.
“I’m hoping he’ll have better ears than me,” Day said. “I’m feeling really vulnerable now. It’s scary. Growing up, I thought everyone was good and that we all value the same things. Now I’m learning people don’t associate emotions with animals unless they’re domesticated animals.”
Pipestem, too, is angered not only by the fact that as she and her family are trying to save wildlife while others down the road are killing it, but also that their suspected adversaries violated the sanctuary of the center.
“All we can figure is that someone down Cottonwood Road was poaching pigs – they do it a lot down there – and their pig-dog got cut up,” Pipestem said, still agitated over the crime. “But to steal from a non-profit like ours, you know, it’s really crappy. We’re really grateful no other animals were harmed. But what’s with these guys? They can remember to bring their beer and litter the road with their cans, but they don’t bring a first aid kit? What a–holes.”
