When the Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center (OWRC) opened its doors to orphaned and injured animals in 1990, it was a fulfillment of a lifelong dream for founder R.G. (Doc) Wexler. He had long been an advocate for animal rehabilitation, a commitment Wexler can track back to his youth when he found an injured baby rabbit. When he grew older, Wexler volunteered for seventeen years at the former Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary in Bowie, Maryland before using his life's savings and retirement to establish OWRC in Lusby, Maryland. The center is only one of five wildlife facilities located in the state, and serves the counties of Calvert, Charles, and St. Marys.
Doc Wexler was the focus of a month-long “WETA Hometown Heroes” profile that aired on WETA TV 26. WETA selected Wexler for his commitment to rehabilitating the wildlife in Southern Maryland. Click here for Doc's "Hometown Hero" profile.
Larry Richman, DVM Senior Advisory Veterinarian
Dr. Richman, in practice since 1959, is currently Senior Advisory Veterinarian for OWRC and Board member for two terms. An advocate of spay/neuter programs around the world, Dr. Richman recently returned from a trip to the Galapagos Islands where he participated in a massive undertaking to spay/neuter the island's stray dogs and cats who would otherwise face euthanasia. Dr. Richman works with several spay/neuter clinics throughout Maryland.
Adam Terry, DVM Consulting Veterinarian
Dr. Terry, one of OWRC's consulting veterinarians, owns and operates All Kinds Veterinary Hospital, Inc. along with his wife, Dr. Autumn Terry. Their small animal hospital, opened in 2005, is located in Callaway, Maryland. Their regular practice includes dogs, cats, and exotic pets.
Drs. Adam and Autumn are graduates of Oklahoma State College of Veterinary Medicine. They moved to southern Maryland in 2002 and subsequently opened their practice. In addition to treating dogs and cats, Dr. Autumn has interest in mammalian exotic pets such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, etc. Dr. Adam has additional interest in exotics such as reptiles (snakes, iguanas, turtles, chameleons, geckos) amphibians and birds. In addition to taking care of their clients' pets, they have made time to help OWRC in the treatment and surgery of many sick or injured wildlife and Dr. Adam has been trained as a captain on OWRC's rescue boat.
"Love all God's creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love." The Brothers Karamazov ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (1821-1881)
Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center is a 501(c)(3) publicly-supported, non-profit charitable organization.
Kind Words...
I fully support and highly recommend Orphaned Wildlife Rescue Center (OWRC) and the Wildlife Clinic of Maryland (TWCM) as an outstanding and first-rate professional wildlife rescue organization.
OWRC cares for all animals, great or small, nasty or nice, smelly or beautiful, with the same respect for life as a human. Mr. Wexler’s facility offers emergency treatment and intensive care for all species until they may be released or forwarded to a licensed wildlife rehabber for rehabilitation.
With OWRC’s three acres of cages, kennels, and recovery areas, there is nothing else like it in Maryland, or for that matter, probably anywhere else. Animals are given every chance to make a full recovery prior to release.
Unique to OWRC is its all-volunteer medical team to include an orthopedic specialist, ophthalmologist, dentist, cardiologist, physical therapist, and nine veterinarians.
Coupled with the superb emergency treatment efforts at the Center and in the field, I would challenge any rescue group to top OWRC’s performance.
One of the primary reasons why most of us volunteer at OWRC and TWCM is that every animal, whether it has mild or severe injuries, receives every chance to fully recover.
