Dozens of people took part in Wednesday’s groundbreaking at Pacific Wildlife Care’s new location in San Luis Obispo along Buckley Road and Esperanza Lane.
“We’ve just been striving to meet the needs of all the wildlife in the area and it’s been a struggle, and it’s beautiful that we have this new facility because from our experience, we’ve learned exactly what we need because it’s very specific,” said Susan Belany, volunteer.
Pacific Wildlife Care’s executive director says they cared for 770 animals annually after first moving into their current location at the old power plant in Morro Bay back in 2007. That number has since jumped to more than 3,000 animals every year.
"That number is growing each year significantly,” said Kristin Howland, Pacific Wildlife Care Executive Director.
The new two-story, 16,000-square-foot building will be centrally located in San Luis Obispo, with one major difference compared to their current location — "Space, space, space,” Howland said.
Sitting on 10 acres, there will also be 8,100 square feet of outdoor space for animal enclosures.
"The most important thing for animal wildlife rehabilitation is being able to move them gradually to bigger spaces,” Howland said.
Pacific Wildlife Care will remain at the Morro Bay location until the new facility is complete.
"We will have this first fully up and running and taking animals here, and the animals that we need to move over, we will do so in the easiest and least impactful way,” Howland said.
Construction is expected to start by the end of June or early July.
"It’s probably within a year or 18 months, so within two years we hope to be mostly lived in,” Howland said.
“My goal is to get them out there, so that’s the most rewarding thing is when I’m able to get an animal that is used to being wild and free and then getting it back out there to what it loves and what it's meant to do,” said Andrea Munter, volunteer.
If you’re interested in volunteering with Pacific Wildlife Care, click here.
