Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Opens New East Hampton Triage Center

This summer, injured wildlife on the East End will have a much shorter journey to safety. Starting June 13, the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center (EAWRC) will officially open the doors to a new seasonal Triage Center in East Hampton, providing a closer lifeline for injured wildlife during the busy summer months. The Triage Center, just off Route 114, will be open Thursdays through Sundays until mid-October, and it’s already being called a “game changer.”

“This Triage Center has been a dream of ours for several years,” says Ingrid Edelman, a longtime Board member at the EAWRC, “The Board strongly believes the new facility will raise both awareness and the quality of care for injured wildlife on the East End.” That care will now be closer, faster, and more accessible, especially in an area where traffic delays have long jeopardized the survival of injured animals.

During summer, travel from places like Montauk, East Hampton, or Bridgehampton to the main hospital in Hampton Bays can take over an hour, sometimes longer on weekends. And when it comes to wildlife rescue missions, every minute matters. “We’ve known for a while that we were losing animals simply because of time and distance,” says Kathleen Mulcahy, executive director of the EAWRC, “Thanks to our Board and the generosity of our donors, we can finally offer a solution.”

The East Hampton Triage Center will be staffed by Adrienne Gillespie, senior hospital supervisor and licensed wildlife rehabilitator; Ryan Gilmartin, animal care assistant; and trained interns, volunteers, and other EAWRC staff. It will serve as a critical “pit stop” for wildlife in distress, receiving animals, stabilizing them, and providing short-term care before either releasing them or transporting them to the main Hampton Bays hospital for longer-term treatment.

“We’re going to try to keep around 12 animals at a time,” says Mulcahy, “We have 16 cages built for birds, small mammals, and fawns, but nothing should stay more than a day or two.” The Triage Center is outfitted with incubators of different sizes, an oxygen machine, an X ray machine, anesthesia, and even equipment for humane euthanasia, provided by Dr. Turetsky of the East Hampton Veterinary Clinic.

“We decided to open this place because we were struggling to get animals from the far East End,” explains Gillespie, “Our volunteers are already pressed for time, and being stuck in traffic for an hour isn’t good for anyone, especially not the animals.”

Now, animals found in East Hampton or nearby towns can be brought straight to the Triage Center, where they’ll receive immediate medical exams and a treatment plan. The facility will also help field calls that might have otherwise been missed. “We’re going to be able to help animals we never would have reached in time before,” Gillespie continues.

EAWRC staff members Adrienne Gillespie and Ryan Gilmartin will be the primary responders at the East Hampton facility, and both will be supported by the existing 24/7 hotline for field calls, which will continue to be dispatched to the EAWRC’s extensive network of trained volunteers across the East End.

But with the new center, the need for volunteers has only grown. “Now that we have the capabilities, we really need more people out there on the East End,” says Mulcahy, “so we’ll be holding rescue training classes in East Hampton at the end of June and again in July.”

Importantly, this isn’t just about the animals, it’s about the people who care for them, too. “We’re so grateful to have staff members willing to do the drive so our volunteers don’t have to,” says Mulcahy. Missy Hargraves, Chair of the EAWRC Board, agrees, “The Triage Center will be a game changer in the animal rescue effort on the East End.”

The EAWRC’s new East Hampton Triage Center brings critical care much closer to home, with expanded capacity, faster response times, and new opportunities for community involvement, it’s a major step forward in wildlife rehabilitation on Long Island. If successful, the Triage Center could become more than just seasonal. “We’ll be monitoring the outcomes, volunteer participation, call volume, and animal survival rates,” says Mulcahy, “If we see the community support and strong results, we’d love to make this a permanent fixture.”

The Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center is located at 228 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays. It can be reached at 631-728-4200, and animal emergencies can be reported at 631-728-WILD (9453). The center is open 9 a.m.–5 p.m. seven days a week. Visit wildliferescuecenter.org for more information.