Dakota Returns Home

Dakota has been rescued and is now safely back home. At 7:30AM this morning staff contained the beloved Great Horned Owl whose 3 week ordeal is now over.

At 6AM staff was contacted by the homeowner of a site that has been under surveillance for over a week. Dakota was seen on the rear deck and was still there when staff arrived at 6:30AM.

When approached, Dakota flew off to a tree, flying low to the ground the entire distance. After several more lower, short flights between homes, trees, and fences in the area, he landed on the railing of a nearby home. One of our staff members was able to slowly approach up the stairs and after an excruciatingly long few moments, was able to safely contain him. After successfully securing him for the ride back, Dakota was finally returned home.

He is resting and recuperating after being examined by his veterinarian earlier today. (we are extremely grateful for the hours volunteered by Dakota’s Veterinarian, Dr. Waliszewski and others who assist us with both resident and patient animals all year long) Dakota returned very dehydrated and thin, but has likely been able to find some food to survive. We are still waiting for results from blood tests to determine if he has other health problems that will need to be addressed.

Dakota will be monitored and cared for, including fluids, for the next week before another evaluation will be completed to see if his condition is improving. Obviously, his physical condition as well as his temperament will determine when he will be able to return to programs and resume his position as the Wildlife In Need Center’s ambassador. We are grateful to have Dakota back where he is safe and only he can determine when he will be ready to return to work.

Thank you to everyone for their support and concern over the past several weeks. Keep watching this blog for updates as Dakota's recuperation continues.

An update on Dakota...

We wanted to take the opportunity to once again thank everyone who has been so kind and generous in your support of the center and our beloved Dakota.  Please continue to send your prayers, well wishes, and positive energy our way. The outpouring of local & state community support from our friends, our volunteers, the public who has been touched by Dakota, and the wildlife rehabilitation community at large, has been overwhelming---and appreciated more than we can say. Thank you all for keeping Dakota in your hearts.....Dakota is our heart and soul.  He is such an important member of our family.  Our greatest wish is to have him home and safe.

The most up-to-date information we have is detailed in the latest JSOnline article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/searchers-looking-near-dousman-for-stolen-owl-ef32mna-133914393.html  We have had a number of people contacting the center with offers to search & questions about sightings in various spots in southeastern WI. Dakota is believed to be in the local area. If you live in the Dousman area, please continue to keep your eyes open for a great horned owl wearing jesses (leather straps like leashes, 4-6 inches long, on his ankles), or acting strangely. Dakota is fully imprinted on people, and our hope is that he would therefore be more likely to appear "tame", and more readily visible than an owl who is fully wild (and therefore more instinctively shy of people). 

We are thankful and so grateful for the many offers to help search.  At this time, we are limiting searchers to our staff and trained wildlife volunteers that help at the Wildlife In Need Center. We are searching on private property with permission and do not want to lose that permission by being too much of a bother. This must be terribly traumatic to Dakota, to be attacked by strangers the way he was, and to be loose and alone in an unfamiliar area.  We feel people he is familiar with will have the best chance of recovering him.  Additionally, because he is a Great Horned Owl, he could possibly hurt someone from fear if someone unfamiliar with raptors tried to handle him. We are so very thankful to everyone who has contacted us offering to help. There are more good people in this world than bad and that’s inspiration for all of us.

Please continue to contact the facility at 262-965-3090 with any sightings in the local Dousman area. Please also continue to contact the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department at 262-548-7126, if you have any information regarding the theft of Dakota.

Thank you all so very much for caring about wildlife, and about bringing our Dakota home. People have contacted us from all over Wisconsin, and are reporting seeing or hearing owls they think are Dakota. Many say they have never seen or heard owls in their area before.  Dakota and the Wildlife In Need Center are still educating people about owls and other wildlife, and we will never stop.  We would also like to offer our most sincere thanks to the Waukesha County Sheriffs Department for their quick action and for treating this crime as seriously as they have.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has also been most helpful to us, and is looking into the case as well.

(Guest Bloggers LR & KP.)

*** ALERT = Important, Please Read ASAP ***

The Wildlife In Need Center is a small non-profit 501c3 organization that offers free medical care to orphaned and injured wildlife with the intent to release back to the wild.

Last night on November 12th, someone broke into our outdoor compound and three of our outdoor cages.  One of the cages housed our main animal ambassador, Dakota, a great horned owl.   Dakota was taken by the thieves.

Dakota is 11 years old and has lived in captivity all but the beginning of his life. Someone kidnapped him as an infant, prior to his coming into our care. He is fully imprinted on humans and can not fend for himself or hunt for food on his own.

Dakota has reached approximately 80,000 people in his educating career not including those through the media via the newspapers and TV. He appears at over 100 programs a year making an impact on girl and boy scout troops, adult charitable organizations, schools, senior citizen facilities and special needs groups.

PLEASE:  if you see or find a great horned owl with jesses (leather straps that would be dangling from his legs), or see an owl that is acting very friendly please contact the Wildlife in Need Center at 262-965-3090, your local humane society, or the Waukesha County Sheriff’s department who is investigating this theft.

Many children and adults have already planned their year end holiday celebrations around Dakota, and his message has always been to promote the positive things that the Wildlife In Need Center does for wildlife and the people that live with them.

Thank you for any information or help that you can provide,
to bring Dakota back home to us.

Thank You for Helping Wildlife

Do you know how to rescue a Bald Eagle with your finger or and orphaned Gray Squirrel with your wireless mouse? We say it a lot around here at the Wildlife In Need Center and it may sound cliché, but our members and supporters really are saving lives with each donation. Whether it’s an hour of their time, a bottle of green cleaner or a dollar, they all add up to what we need to get the job done.

In-kind donations are a way that we get a tremendous amount of the materials and supplies we need.

In a shameless attempt to win you over with cuteness please review the following photographs:

The following items are things we urgently need due to the large number of patients being admitted daily:

• Paper Towels
• Newspapers
• EVO-Premium Cat Food – (found at Friends of Nature)
• Plastic Storage Tubs – 10, 18 or 35 gallon sizes
• Dry erase EXPO markers – black (or any color)
• Simple Green - (or other similar cleaners like Green Works for example)
• And of course - Greens - Any type

Whether it’s one donation or 100 we can accept them in our office between 9AM and 5PM seven days a week. Thank you for caring.

You can donate online to support our efforts to help our wild neighbors in need too.

Thank you for helping us celebrate 16 years of caring

Mealworms and waxworms
$8,458.55
Medications
$3,494.97
Food and Formula (beyond what is generously donated)
$11,198.77
Electricity
$6,729.20
Releasing an animal back to its natural habitat

Priceless

For everything else there’s Wildlife In Need

Last Friday, Arbor Day, we celebrated the “priceless-ness” of wildlife with over 200 of our closest members, volunteers and supporters. This event is our biggest annual fundraiser and this group was one of the largest we’ve had in many years!

Despite the economy, our 16th Annual Banquet and Auction was a bigger success than we could have hoped for and we can’t begin to express our gratitude to each and every individual, business, member, volunteer and supporter who helped make that happen. We received donations from over 85 local (and not so local) businesses in addition to both monetary and auction items donated from over 60 individuals.

In case you missed the touching video put together by a friend of WINC please feel free to view it below.

And thanks again for caring.