Regulations Impacting Use of Volunteers, Interns, and Staff: Excessive Bureaucracy or Ensuring Quality Animal Care?

Many wildlife rehabilitators holding licenses or permits, especially those operating high volume rehabilitation facilities, often enlist help from others (volunteers, staff, interns), most of whom have not undergone rehabilitation licensure themselves, to perform tasks involving direct animal care. Recently, at least one wildlife agency clarified in their regulations how unlicensed people assisting rehabilitators with direct wildlife care should be trained and supervised, permitted tasks they can perform, and new recordkeeping requirements. This paper describes what prompted these new regulations, approved in Colorado in 2009, on a key aspect of rehabilitation that generally has not been addressed in state regulations, a description of the new regulations, and the predictable and varied reactions from rehabilitators. Since rehabilitator practices regarding the training, supervising, and monitoring of unlicensed volunteers, staff, and/or interns can have a direct impact on the possession, release, and quality of animal care, other state wildlife agencies may consider similar regulations to help ensure an acceptable level of care by specifying requirements for all of the people involved in the rehabilitation process.