S2E7: On Ethics in Wildlife Rehabilitation, With Lauren Glickman

Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release

Host Gail Buhl caught up with Lauren Glickman, a former Volunteer Manager at PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) in Seattle and current organizational training and development consultant.

Lauren Glickman began her career in the Peace Corps, then found her way into wildlife rehabilitation in the Seattle area. There she volunteered at PAWS and quickly realized she had found a passion for animal care. After landing a full-time role as a volunteer coordinator, Lauren established monthly ethics lectures for new volunteers, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become her niche as a consultant. Also while working at PAWS, Lauren earned a Masters of Applied Behavioral Science. “I wanted to support people who were working for missions I cared about,” she said in our interview.

In this episode, Gail dives into the complex topic of ethics in wildlife rehabilitation, one of Lauren’s specialties. They open the discussion by coming up with a working definition of of ethics, then dig into some specific cases that can arise with both animals and people in the course of wildlife rehabilitation operations. Such issues range from professionalism around animals being rehabilitated (no “nuzzling” of the squirrels, please) to informed consent during the recruiting and hiring process about wildlife rehabilitation job requirements and expectations.
Resources:
NWRA/IWRC Code of Ethics
Book: Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring For Self While Caring For Others (Laura Van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk 2009)
Ideals and Realities: Presenting Wildlife Ethics to Volunteers and the Public. Lauren Glickman presented at the 2002 National Wildlife Rehabilitation Symposium, DeMoines, IA. Also published in NWRA Wildlife Rehabilitation Proceedings Vol 20. Linked here with permission of the Author.
How Resilience Works by Diane Coutu How Resilience Works (hbr.org)
Minimum Standards for Wildlife Rehabilitation, Third Edition (2000), Erica A. Miller, DVM

Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.
To learn more about The Raptor Center, visit Homepage | The Raptor Center (umn.edu). For more on Partners for Wildlife, visit Partners for Wildlife Home | The Raptor Center (umn.edu).