ABOUT SBWCN
THE MISSION
Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) serves to rescue, rehabilitate and return to the wild sick, injured, orphaned, or oil-impaired wild birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties and to educate the public about living in harmony with wildlife.
THE VISION
Providing quality rescue, treatment, rehabilitation, and release services to injured, sick, oiled, orphaned, and displaced wildlife.
Educating the public about the needs of at-risk wildlife, the challenges faced by wildlife in the region, and effective ways to help ensure the health and survival of wild animals.
Gathering and sharing information on wildlife treatments, rehabilitation techniques, behavior, and optimal management and care methods with other wildlife care providers, partners, researchers, and agencies.
THE HISTORY
In 1988, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network was forged by a passionate group of animal lovers and friends who saw the need for wildlife rescue in the Santa Barbara area. Together, they established the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network to provide rehabilitative care to at-risk wildlife. In those first years, SBWCN called many places home: dozens of homecare volunteers’ individual homes across the tri-counties, a clinic on Garden Street, Franceschi Road, the Fairview Shopping Center, and more. Then, in 2004 the organization was able to put down roots and purchase two acres of Goleta foothills property to expand operations and better fulfill our mission. In 2012, SBWCN officially moved into its permanent home at 1460 N Fairview Ave. Over the last 33 years, SBWCN has fulfilled a critical need in the Santa Barbara community to save and serve wildlife.
Since its inception, SBWCN has been a volunteer-driven organization that rescues and rehabilitates at risk wildlife in Santa Barbara County and beyond. As a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitation organization, SBWCN staff and volunteers currently help thousands of animals each year and communicate with over 7,000 individual citizens from Morro Bay to Malibu. Today, SBWCN averages 45 hours of volunteer service a day, 365 days of the year, to keep up with the pace of wildlife rescue.