Wild Care Expands Space

The Lower Cape's animal rehabilitation center just got a little bit bigger.

What is Wild Care?

14 JUNE 2024 - EASTHAM, MA -  Wild Care offers animal rehabilitation services to the Lower Cape at no cost, serving more than 1800 animals each year. They release most animals back into the wild after treating them for injuries. Their role in the community also involves educating the public on how to prevent harm to Cape Cod's wildlife. The organization cut the ribbon for a new building at their main Eastham location on Friday.

What is Wild Care's new building?

Over the past five years, Wild Care has spent almost a million dollars designing and building their education and cleaning center. Once the organization is fully moved into the building, it will provide a more efficient space to clean all the equipment Wild Care uses, including crates, aquariums, and laundry. The education center will provide "an experience" for all those dropping off animals for treatment, said Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care's executive director. The addition of this new space will also free up more lab space in their original Eastham building to treat animals.

What still needs to be done?

Wild Care received a Tern Foundation Solar Grant and installed solar panels on the new building last week. As a matching grant, the Tern Foundation grant matches donations made from an organization's supporters and community, and Wild Care is hoping for more donations to go toward the matching grant. After installing epoxy and flooring and furnishing the building, they hope to move in by the end of the summer, Ellis said. 

What is Wild Care's relationship with Eastham and Cape Cod?

Wild Care has been in Eastham for over 30 years and helped more than 30,000 animals. Jennifer Taylor, Wild Care's Animal Care Coordinator, has been working with the organization for more than 20 of those years. She said the organization has always had a strong relationship with the community, going back to their time as a grassroots organization when they couldn't afford a bag of apples for animals and the community donated more apples than they knew what to do with. More than a dozen people attended the ribbon cutting Friday, and Taylor said that community connection is just as strong 20 years later.