PWC’s Kelly Vandenheuvel is holding Alice, a great horned owl and wildlife ambassador for Pacific Wildlife Care.
Photos and Story by Neil Farrell
When Pacific Wildlife Care brought their wildlife ambassadors and birds of prey to the Morro Bay Vet’s Hall on Jan. 18, they played to a standing room only crowd.
As part of the Winter Bird Festival, bird wranglers, Kelly Vandenheuvel, Jeri Roberts, Virginia Flaherty, Cathy Duncan and Tera Galanti brought five raptors, taking each in turn and walking them through the room and lecturing on the specific characteristics of each.

Tera Galanti showing Pip, and American kestrel and wildlife ambassador for Pacific Wildlife Care.
All of the birds came to PWC’s rehab facility in Morro Bay after being found injured, sick or abandoned.
Normally, PWC rehabs the birds they take in and releases them back into the wild where they came from. But these birds had severe enough injuries that they couldn’t be released.
The birds that can be tamed down become wildlife ambassadors in PWC’s education programs like Meet the Raptors.

Virginia Flaherty holds Denali, a red tail hawk that is blind so can’t be released back into the wild.
PWC is celebrating its 40th year rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife — from possums, and raccoons to a wide variety of birds. PWC is certified to respond to oil spills and has done so numerous times in the past — most recently the Refugio Beach oil spill in May 2015, where they helped save oiled wildlife.
The non-profit organization has operated its rehab center at the Morro Bay Power Plant since 2007 but Bird Wrangler, and former PWC President, Cathy Duncan said they’ve outgrown the facility.

Pacific Wildlife Care’s Jeri Roberts shows Leo, a long-eared owl and one of PWC’s wildlife ambassadors, during a ‘Meet the Raptors’ demonstration, part of the Annual Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival.
The group is in the process of building a new, modern facility on Buckley Road, in San Luis Obispo (by the County Airport), that was donated to the group.
Duncan said they hope to break ground on the new, “Kim and Derrel Ridenour Wildlife Rehabilitation Center” sometime this summer.
The new center has a goal of raising $11.5 million to plan, build and equip the new facility.
According to the PWC website, “Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve raised $5.7 million towards the $7 million needed for initial planning and construction needs. Additionally we have raised $3.8 million in legacy gifts to help create a sustainable future for PWC.”
Go to pacificwildlifecare.org for more information on Pacific Wildlife Care’s vital work and to donate to the campaign for the new rehab center.