Second Chance Wildlife Center

Took a little injured squirrel over after calling and getting details over the phone. Place was easy to find, ample parking and the staff was awesome both on the phone and in person. It was just before the snow storm hit so I hope the squirrel makes it but I'm glad it's in good hands whatever happens.

Went there looking to volunteer, but the 40 minute round trip commute made me decide against it. They are doing great work there, rehabbing hurt wildlife and returning them to the wild once recovered. Your donations would be appreciated.

I brought an injured Canadian Goose who had been hit with a car to the amazing people at Second Chance Wildlife Center. I was having difficulty finding someone who cared for water fowl. Second Chance had me bring him to them for evaluation. During intake the staff answered all of my questions, and were honest and transparent about the injury he had suffered. I was informed that due to the serious injury he may have to be euthanized. I called to follow up a week later and the staff knew exactly which animal I called about, and kindly informed me that he unfortunately had to be humanely had to be euthanized. I am thankful to the kind people here for taking him and caring for this animal and helping him cross over peacefully with no suffering like would have happened in the wild. What they do is not easy by any means and I am grateful for the kindness the provided to me and to the seriously injured animal.

If I could give zero stars, I would. This is NOT the wildlife center that I once knew. Under the current management, I have had several bad experiences. They are NOT trustworthy. They euthanize too quickly. If you want to give our local wildlife a true "second chance", please take them to either City Wildlife Inc. or the Phoenix Wildlife Center. The latter is in Baldwin, Maryland. Both City Wildlife Inc. and the Phoenix Wildlife Center do a GREAT job.

We had a horrible experience with Second Chance and I definitely DO NOT recommend this place if you want to have a higher and better chance for the poor animals to have a second chance to live.

Here is what happened: we hatched a Canada Geese egg when we found it in the middle of the road in our neighborhood. It was amazing to see how the little thing made it to the world and how fast he grew. He brought a great joy to my family and became part of the family member. Unfortunately, I learnt that they shouldn’t be kept by human and are protected when I was trying to find a forever home for him. I tried some sanctuaries and farms, who recommended me to bring it to a rehabilitation center and Second Chance was place we found online. I tried to call Second Chance and the staff encouraged me strongly to bring the gosling in but did said he must’ve imprinted on humans. If that happened, the chance to release it would be little but they would try to keep it with other goslings and teach him how to be a goose. That way, I trusted their expert view and dropped our gosling there on the next day (May 28th). We didn’t realize that the worst case scenario was to euthanize the gosling until after we signed the document. We were shocked by this worst case scenario but it was too late. We still hoped for the best as the staff told us that they would try to quarantine our gosling for 24 hours and tried to put him with other goslings. They asked us to check in on May 30th but I couldn’t wait that long to figure out the destiny for the poor gosling. I called the on the next day and was told that the gosling was gone already!!! The didn’t wait to give this poor thing the second chance for more than 24 hours before euthanizing it! I was shocked and very upset about Second Chance. They kept telling me that it is based on the law if the goose is imprinted on human. I am not arguing what they did was againt the law but I have my two points: 1. They didn't even try to give the Second Chance as the whole process took less than 24 hours. This is not the purpse of having it called Second Chance 2. The law supports euthanizing under such situation but does say if it can't be placed in a nature center. Second Chance didn't even bother to find out a place to accomodate the gosling. I actually found a sanctuary where they could keep an imprinted-on-human gosling but it was too late!!

Our family are still in deep sorrow after losing the gosling for a week in such an expected way. There is some learning that I want to share to make sure such a mistake wasn't made again. Additionally, it is not a good and correct idea to hatch an egg that belongs to the wild life.

Honestly I’m so disappointed in this place they don’t deserve a 1star. I found an eastern box turtle that had a bum leg due to some kind of injury it got in the wild although this turtle was hurt he showed signs of life and I had so much hope that he would be able to be saved trusting this place I brought him in and I asked for constant updates on him they let me know he was eating and showed signs of getting better. I let them know that if he was to need more care that they could not provide I would have happily taken him back and brought him somewhere that had the means to take care of him properly or even donated more money to help get them the tools or means they needed to continue care for him. They did not inform me that they were going to be Euthanizing this turtle or that he was declining in health even tho I had reached out to them several times. This turtle could have been saved and I regret bringing him in the staff when I dropped him off did not seem to care much and they barely answered there emails to update me DO NOT BRING A HURT ANIMAL HERE THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANIMALS.

I called after a bird flew into my door and couldn't get up. The volunteer who answered the phone was very knowledgeable and helpful. With her advice, I was able to protect the bird from predators and allow it time to rest. After two hours, the bird was well enough to fly away. Thanks!