Felled by Fire : Injured Wildlife Drain Resources of Laguna Clinic

Coming to the rescue of birds and animals injured in last month’s Laguna Canyon fire burned a hole in the pocketbook of the Pacific Wildlife Project.

The all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that operates out of the Laguna Niguel home of Linda Evans and her veterinarian husband, Richard, is always tight on funds. But the additional efforts required to rescue and treat wildlife affected by the fire hurt the group.

“We’re broke. We’re flat broke,” Linda Evans said. “We spent a lot of money during the fire.”

As fire swept through areas of Laguna Beach, the Evanses and their volunteers went into the field, treating and releasing deer, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons and opossums. Other animals with more serious wounds were brought back to the clinic at the Evanses’ unassuming home on Adelanto Drive.

“Unfortunately, most of them were so badly burned that we couldn’t treat them,” Linda Evans said. “We had to euthanize them to put them out of their misery.”

Even when the fire subsided, the toll on wildlife continued. For two weeks, an average of five injured animals were brought to the clinic every day. Many of the creatures suffered burns when they landed or walked on glowing embers or other hot materials left in the fire’s wake.

The costs of drugs, dressings, sutures and other medical supplies drained the project’s reserves. Instead of the $10,000 typically left at this time of year from the project’s roughly $35,000 annual budget, the reserve account is virtually empty, said Linda Evans.

The Evanses have operated the Pacific Wildlife Project out of their home since 1981. Each year they treat 1,500 to 2,000 birds that have been tangled in fishing lines, snagged by fishhooks, abused by people or crippled by other injuries.

Their work--mostly with sea birds--has won them widespread respect and acclaim. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated their facility as its repository for injured pelicans from Malibu to San Onofre.

For several months, the group has been searching for another location that would give the project room to grow. Its request earlier this year to build in Laguna Beach, however, was denied when an environmental group objected to the proposed site’s impact on wildlife. Now the group is pursuing a possible location in San Juan Capistrano.

Evans said her hopes for funding are riding on a newsletter the group sends out to the community at the end of the year, asking for donations.

“All the money that goes into the project,” she said, “goes into the birds.”