Caledon resident Sherri Cox is the founder of the National Wildlife Centre (NWC), an organization dedicated to performing critical surgeries on sick and injured wildlife who would otherwise be euthanized.
Currently, the NWC is a mobile clinic which is the only wildlife hospital accredited by the Ontario Veterinary College.
It operates out of a van that was donated for Cox to be able to carry all of her medical supplies for surgeries to wildlife rescues across the province – but her hope is to establish a permanent location right here in Caledon.
In the interim, Cox is desperately searching for a place to temporarily set up shop while plans with the Town of Caledon and TRCA come together for a permanent location.
“Something heated, with water and plumbing that is around 1,000 to 2,000 square feet would be ideal,” she told The Enterprise. “From heron’s, to owls, to foxes and fawns – NWC, TRCA and the Town of Caledon are working hard to move through the process but because we are so busy, we have a full time veterinarian and another biologist joining us on June 13 and we need somewhere to put them.”
Cox is appealing to the public in hopes of finding space available to temporarily call home in Caledon as early as the beginning of June.
While the daily care of Cox’s patients is in the hands of the wildlife rehabbers, she makes regular visits to a number of rescues to perform lifesaving procedures using her wealth of knowledge as a small animal veterinarian and years of independently studying wildlife medicine in particular.
All of Cox’s time, the fuel to get from A to B and the medical supplies are currently provided out of pocket – which is why the organization needs help from the public or private sponsors to raise enough money to build a permanent location here in Caledon.
“The number of wildlife we treat has been increasing every year,” she said. “We really need a place to perform much needed emergency treatment, surgery, and intensive care.”
For the full story on the background and mission of the NWC, check out the upcoming Sideroads magazine to be released April 21 or take a look at the organization’s website at nationalwildlifecentre.ca. Cox can be reached at info@nationalwildlifecentre.ca.
This article was originally written by Danielle Marr from