Dear Friends and Supporters,
We are SO EXCITED! BHRC now owns a digital x-ray machine! Thanks to grants from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, a Giving Circle at BH Area Community Foundation, and a number of private donors, the BHRC has made a huge investment that will help birds fly free for the next 25 years.
The radiography equipment allows our volunteer team to take images of birds with suspected breaks or fractures. It means we can completely examine birds we surmise have been shot. And our ability to care for birds prior to sending them to another rehabber has dramatically increased. Also, we can also examine all wild foods that are donated to the Center, to make 100% sure we do not have any lead fragments in the food, which is deadly to raptors. Once our own rehabilitation permit is acquired, we will be able to check on the healing of breaks or fractures, share images with other facilities across the world, and thereby gain the knowledge of the veterinarians and staff from other centers.
A special thanks to Diagnostic Imaging of Rapid City for helping our team select the best machine for our use, providing short term storage of it until our building was far enough along in its construction, and training our group lead team.
Next steps? Train a team of specially selected volunteers to safely use the equipment. These folks will be our core rehabilitation team, and will make a one year commitment to our efforts to help more Birds Fly Free.
Maggie Engler & John Halverson
Co-Founders