Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) - Visitor Education Center — Attraction in Sanibel

I wouldn't take any animal to this place! I recently rescued a new born baby raccoon the day after Hurricane Milton. My friends found her in a landscaping plant yard. No mom raccoon around and she had JUST opened her eyes but couldn't crawl yet. I used to work with wildlife yrs ago so my friend brought her to me to save. She was super dehydrated and weak. I bottle fed her and nursed her to good health. I became very attached to her and even looked up the laws as far as keeping a raccoon as a pet in Florida, I qualified for getting the permit needed and I was going to start that process. But then I got a new job which started to consume all of my time.I've then decided to make the right decision for "Ruby" (my baby raccoon) and instead of keeping her caged a lot where I couldn't give her enough attention that she needed, so I decided to surrender her while she was still young enough to be he rehabilitated back into the wild, I called CROW and spoke to them over the phone first, and they reassured me that she was young enough and healthy enough to be put with other raccoons her age and that she would be set back into the wild eventually. When I got there, of course everything changed, and I had a weird feeling in my gut by the way everyone was acting when I walked in with her. they still kept telling me that they would send her to either Venice or Naples to do the Rehabilitation with the other raccoons her age, but as I was talking to the girl, It happened to come up that in my time PLAYING with Ruby that she did bite and scratch me, but it was all in a PLAYFUL way. There was never any aggression at all. I had her for a few months. She never ever showed any signs of Rabies and I never suspected that she would even have it. But after the lady found out, she started telling me that I need to go to the doctors and look into the Rabies vaccine. After I left the facility, she called me 30 minutes later and told me over the phone. That by law, they have to euthanize Ruby and test her for Rabies, and it has to go through the health department. The feeling I got in my stomach was like someone calling me to tell me my child was dead. I was hysterically crying. I pleaded with the girl to let me come back and pick Ruby up and take her home that I would figure something else out and they would not give her back to me. They decided to take a healthy, happy, loving baby raccoon and KILL HER! Then to let me take her home. It's been almost 2 days now. And I can't stop crying.This is the worst heartache I have ever felt in my life. And the more people I tell about what happened with Ruby, the more everyone's saying that they heard CROW has a reputation of euthanizing more animals than they do saving them. If I would have known this, I would have never brought my baby there. It was heartless and cruel what they did to her, and what it is doing to me! I'VE DRIVE BY THIS PLACE ALL THE TIME...AND I WILL NEVER LOOK AT IT THIS THE SAME AGAIN! I WILL NEVER DONATE TO THEM EVER AGAIN, OR EVEN RECOMMEND THEM EVER AGAIN! SHAME...

Yesterday I found two ducks. One appeared to be very sick and the other had a broken wing. I decided to give them to C.R.O.W I didn't have high hopes for the sick one, so when they told me they were going to euthanize it, I was disappointed but I understood that it was for the best. I wasn't really upset until I discovered that they were also going to euthanize the duck with the broken wing. Not because it couldn't be fixed, but because it was a Muscovy, a bird that isn't native to Florida. Upon finding this out, I asked C.R.O.W if I could have it transferred to a place called Duck Haven that rescues and cares for all ducks, including Muscovy ducks. They said they would not do that. I thought I was doing the right thing, and I probably was for the sick duck, but the Muscovy with the broken wing could have had a second chance. Duck Haven would have taken her, and they would have done everything they could to fix her wing. They even would taken the time to have her relocated to a place where Muscovy ducks are native once...

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE. I had a baby bird for a week straight that I found while one vacation, fed him every day every 30min for a week straight. Healthy bird, he needed maybe another week of feedings til he would be on his own. My family and I were headed back home and needed a place to care for Mr. Chirpy when we left. I took the little guy there, went outside to grab some donation money, and came back in and they said he didn't make it!!!!! He was there 5 min or less and they said he had a broken wing and had to put him down...This place disgusted me, find a different option if you need help for an animal...I wish I would have just found a private person to care for the little bird for another week instead of trusting this place that obviously has no love for animals or helping..hope you all rot in...