Critter Care Wildlife Society

I did a internship in 2016 for 9 months. During my time I learnt some valuable experience regarding the care and rehab of North America wildlife, which I carried on into my career. It is a once in a life time opportunity.

I began my internship with completing 3 months in mind, but once I started to see what work they do I got hooked and stayed for an extra 5 months! Getting direct hands on experience with wildlife, from neonate to release of a healthy adult has been the most rewarding experience. And having a background in Animal Science It really gave me relevant knowledge and experience. I would do it again in a heart beat!

I was extremely excited as I registered to become an intern at the CCWS. However, the experience was one of the most negative and stressful of my life. While caring for the animals was hard work it was completely rewarding and I truly enjoyed the early morning feeds, endless hours cleaning cages and preparing vegetables, and other tasks centered around the wildlife. However, the social/professional environment, as well as safety and living conditions, were terrible. The manner in which interns were treated was simple not acceptable. How the center was designed and led (I.e. who was chosen to care for certain animals, who was assigned various tasks) created a competitive and unfair system which led to what can be called as nothing less than bullying. When I arrived certain interns were at the point of being treated so poorly by staff and other interns that they were hiding in animals enclosures crying. It was expected that most interns would not last more than two weeks. Staff acted unprofessional and in ways that intentionally provoked drama and competition between interns. Furthermore, the living conditions were unacceptable. During the time I was there there was est. 15 - 10 interns sharing a single kitchen (e.i. one stove, one fridge, etc.) and single small bathroom (the shower was so small I couldn't raise my arms all the way). It was so busy that interns were truly going to the bathroom in the woods surrounding the center. I used to wake at 2:00 am so I was able to have a hot shower. Finally, the safety conditions were also just not acceptable. Weeks into being there we found out we were mixing cleaning chemicals that created toxic gasses, and it was a regular event for interns to get bleach in their eyes. No eyewash or first aid kits were available. These conditions led to every intern on site walking out of the center in solidarity. Full time employees also left with us to protest how we were treated. This was not the first time this happened. We attempted to involve government authorities to force the center to improve conditions but as the interns are there voluntarily and are unpaid they did not have the authority to do so. While it pains me to write such a negative review I feel it is necessary for people to understand what they are walking into. FINALLY, when interns were finished their time at the center they were required to write non-anonymous reviews to get their deposits back, and as many want references from the center are forced into false reviews that reflect only the positive aspects. Thus, the majority of reviews of the center are not basically cohersed and inaccurate.