Search Tool Background
This search tool was created to help the public locate a permitted Ontario Wildlife Rehabilitator who is currently able to accept or provide advice for wild animal(s) found in distress.
A “permitted Ontario Wildlife Rehabilitator ” is a Rehabilitator who has a valid permit from Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). Permits are necessary before Rehabilitators are legally allowed to accept wildlife into care.
To begin your search, please click on the large button labeled “Click Here to Find an Ontario Wildlife Rehabilitator” located at the beginning of this page.
Search Tool Accuracy
We work very hard to ensure the accuracy of the information provided by this search tool. However, errors do occur. This is especially true during busy baby wildlife seasons (spring and summer) when rehabilitation facilities are filling up quickly. Once full, although the facility can still provide advice for certain species, they temporarily can no longer intake this species. To remain useful, this fact should be reported by the search tool.
So, if you find any inaccuracies in the information displayed by the search tool, could you please Contact Us to report the problem? We will then update the search tool’s information accordingly.
Your input helps to ensure the continued usefulness of the search tool for everyone who finds a wild animal in distress.
Thank you so much for helping our wildlife!
Search Tool Hints
A. Input Screen
After selecting the button above labeled “Click Here to Find an Ontario Wildlife Rehabilitator”, you will see this input screen:
Please type in or select the name of the wild animal you have found and then click the green Search button. The information returned from your search will contain Wildlife Rehabilitators located in Ontario Canada who may be able to help you. Then you can contact the rehabilitator closest to you for further details about what can be done for this animal.
You can “Switch to advance search mode” for complex searches, but for most cases the simple search mode is enough. If you accidentally find yourself in the Advanced Search Mode area, simply select the “Switch to simple search mode” button to return to the screen shown above.
If the result of your query does not contain any data, try a similar animal or a more general term for him. For example, if you search for “Goldfinch” and get an empty result, try “Songbird” or “Bird” instead. Conversely, if you try “Raptor” and get too many results, try “Eagle” instead.
B. Search Results Screen
In the search results screen shown below, you can see the information is in columns. To sort, click on the text in the header of the column to be sorted.
Each row of the results table is an animal at a certain life stage. The Rehabilitator is indicated on this row too. Using this table, one can determine the city where the Rehabilitator is located. One can also determine if each Rehabilitator can accept this animal into their facility, or provide advice only.
The “Animal” column contains the name of the animal you input.
The “Life Stage” column contains life stages of that animal that the rehabilitator is willing to rehabilitate or provide advice for. Note: there are only 4 possible life stages: egg, baby, weaned and adult. Although for some animals these 4 terms are not the correct terms for their life stages (for example, a bird at the weaning stage is called a fledgling), these 4 stages were chosen for simplicity. They are meant to give one an idea of the animal’s age/maturity and are not necessarily the correct biological term.
The “Will Accept Into Rehab?” column shows services offered by the Rehabilitator. There are 3 values for this column: “Yes”, “Limited Acceptance” and “Provide Advice Only”.
- If the entry is “Yes” in the “Will Accept Into Rehab?” column, then this Rehabilitator has space in their facility and is willing to take this type of animal into care. It also means the Rehabilitator can provide expert advice about this animal if it is determined that the animal does not need to come into care.
- The second option, “Limited Acceptance”, indicates the Rehabilitator MAY be able to accept this animal into care. This status may mean, for example, the Rehabilitator does not have the resources to accept a whole litter of rabbits, but may be able to accept just one or two rabbits. The decision to accept is done on a case-by-case basis.
- The last option, “Provide Advice Only”, indicates the Rehabilitator cannot accept the animal into care at this time but can still provide expert advice about this animal.
The “Area Animals Are Accepted From” indicates the region (area) from where the animal must have been found. Each Rehabilitator determines the region from which they will accept an animal.
The “Print Preview” allows you to view the search results before you print the output.
At any point in time, the “Select All” will return all animals and life stages currently covered by every Ontario Rehabilitator. You can then search for animals, cities, Rehabilitators, etc., using the Search field at the top right hand side of the screen. To get back into the Input Screen for an animal, select the “Search” button.
C. Information Screen
Selecting the word “Rehabilitation” (located at the top left hand side of the search results screen above) will show you the following image with an orange bar and some information about this search utility. To get back into the searchable area, click on the orange bar.
If these hints all make sense, great. If not, don’t worry. Just select the blue and white button at the top of the page and play around with this search tool for a little while. You’ll get it! And you will discover other little gems not explained above.
Please Help Us
The usefulness of this search tool relies heavily on keeping its data up-to-date. If you notice any errors or omissions could you please Contact Us to report the problem. We welcome your feedback.
Thank you.