May 8, 2020 — A resident of Orchard Park found this short-tailed weasel underneath her kitchen stove! Also called a stoat, short-tailed weasels are common but seldom-seen residents of our area. She brought it to the SPCA Serving Erie County’s Wildlife Department where it received a clean bill of health. He will be transferred to the care Elise Able of Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue, Inc.
–James Sevigny, SPCA Serving Erie County
May 7, 2020 — Pandemic or no pandemic, there are still animals in our community who need emergency assistance from the SPCA Serving Erie County…and our officers are responding to the cries for help.
Yesterday, an observant North Buffalo resident saw a robin trapped in string wrapped around its body; the robin was hanging upside down in a tree, unable to free himself. Officers Heine and Maleskis were able to rescue the bird, remove the string, and transport the thankful, little guy to our Wildlife Department for assessment and observation.
Later in the day, Officers Heine and Maleskis were at it again, responding to a call about an abandoned gosling at Tifft Nature Preserve. The gosling was also transported to our Wildlife Department for care and observation.
Today, the gosling drama continued. We’re still awaiting video from folks at UB Law School, who recorded Officers Maleskis and Wlodarczyk rescuing goslings there in an upper courtyard! The goslings join the others under observation here at the SPCA Serving Erie County’s Harlem Rd., West Seneca shelter.
If you are experiencing an emergency with your animal or find that an animal is in an emergency situation, please call the SPCA Monday through Friday at 716-875-7360, ext. 214, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. During the hours of 4 p.m.-8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays 8 a.m.-8 p.m., please call 716-449-0363.
When you call, please advise the dispatcher if you or any members of your household are experiencing flu-like symptoms. This information will ensure first responders can prepare to prevent the spread of any illnesses.
–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Serving Erie County Chief Communications Officer
May 5, 2020 — Yesterday morning, the SPCA’s Wildlife Department received a call about a nesting mallard who had been struck and killed by a car the night prior. The homeowner knew where the nest was, and [the homeowner called because] the babies were starting to hatch!
When our Wildlife team arrived on location, half of the 14 eggs had hatched into fuzzy babies; the other ducks were still pipping out of their eggs. Without a mother, however, the ducks that remained in 
their eggs had become very hypothermic and were struggling to escape their egg-ey confines!
All 14 babies and eggs were brought to the shelter and incubated. It was a rough start for the eight that were hatching, but by the end of the day, all duckies were alive and recovering in the incubators!
–Dawn Karipidis, SPCA Serving Erie County
April 2, 2020
By: SPCA Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca
UPDATE, MAY 5: Starting today, receive a dose or two of virtual comfort from our Paws for Love animals as they make their house calls right on the SPCA’s Facebook page! Get your daily dose of therapy here!
OUT-OF-WORK THERAPY PETS SEEK VIRTUAL COMFORT OPPORTUNITIES!
The SPCA Serving Erie County Paws for Love therapy animals have officially been relegated to house calls. Make that VIRTUAL house calls.
These Paws for Love power-paws (and feet!) have the ability to heal and comfort right through your screen…from their houses to YOUR houses!
No pharmacy visits. No trips to the doctor. No active ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Simply stay home and visit this SPCA Serving Erie County Paws for Love: HOUSE CALLS playlist! Each visit will bring you one of our four-footed ‘out-of-work’ Paws for Love therapy pets offering some holistic, home-side comfort…and we guarantee you’ll be feeling better in no time!
Plus, now you can tune in to WKBW-TV Ch. 7 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning between 6:45 a.m. and 7 a.m. for your 3x/weekly dose of PAWS FOR LOVE comfort and therapy! With Ch. 7’s help, you’ll feel a little comfort first thing in the morning! What a way to start the day!
SPCA Paws for Love: HOUSE CALLS begins on WKBW-TV this week. Can’t wait? Visit this playlist for daily doses of HOUSE CALLS comfort! Then click the image below to see Ch. 7’s Jeff Slawson introduce the House Calls feature!
For more information, contact SPCA Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca: 716-875-7360, ext. 211.
UPDATE April 14, 2020:
Read more about the all-new SPCA Paws for Love: HOUSE CALLS, Project ECMC, bringing Paws for Love healing and comfort to the hardworking staff at Erie County Medical Center, here >>
May 5, 2020 — While many businesses are required to pause their work during our health crisis, animal shelters are on the list of essential businesses in New York State. This means that, while limiting what we can offer Erie County, we can still do everything possible to serve the people and animals of our community, and that includes wild animals.
Check out this update from the Wildlife Department of the SPCA Serving Erie County. Clearly the wild work is definitely taking flight this spring:
Spring migration is fully underway! Baltimore orioles have been sighted at area feeders and ruby-throated hummingbirds are never far behind! (People used to think that hummingbirds hitched a ride on the backs of migrating geese, but now we know that these tiny iridescent birds fly 500 miles NON-STOP across the Gulf of Mexico under their own power!)
To the delight of area birdwatchers, warblers have begun arriving in the past few days. In the spring, these tiny colorful songbirds migrate huge distances from their wintering grounds in the tropics to their nesting grounds in the north. The first to arrive in late April are pine warblers and palm warblers, followed soon after by yellow warblers and yellow-rumped warblers. The first two weeks of May are when we really see the full range of warblers passing through, from the understated black-and-white warblers to the beautiful and elusive cerulean, blackburnian, and prothonatary warblers.
Other neotropical migrants include swifts and swallows, herons and bitterns, flycatchers, sandpipers, and other shorebirds.
One hazard that these birds face on their long migration is completely unexpected: SHARKS! It was recently discovered that small songbirds make up a not-insignificant part of the diet of baby tiger sharks! (https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/tiger-sharks-eat-songbirds).
We received our first baby mallards this week and will begin to have waterfowl 
volunteers coming in to care for them starting next week! We also received two goslings who are now being fostered by a nice family of Canada geese at Tifft Nature Preserve!
Other notable admissions this week include two baby short-tailed weasels (also known as stoats), three baby chipmunks, and our first baby birds of the season!
Finally, the least bittern who has been our guest since November 1 is almost ready to go! He has been living in an outdoor enclosure for the past week, and as soon as the weather is cooperative we will be releasing him!
— James Sevigny, SPCA Serving Erie County
Can you assist ill family members or friends by caring for the household pet(s) if someone becomes ill? If so, please copy and share one of these infographics, courtesy of Animalsheltering.org:
April 28, 2020 — The SPCA Serving Erie County is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to assist The Belle Center, a community partner of Buffalo Public Schools, by sharing with them several boxes of books, notebooks, pens, pencils, soccer balls, food, and drawstring bags. Center representatives will use these items in care packages they’re assembling for local families in need!
The mission of The Belle Center is to offer innovative educational, social and community building services for children, youth, senior citizens and families living in Western New York. Learn more about the center here.
April 27, 2020 — The SPCA Serving Erie County’s Officer Jennifer Maleskis rescued these baby weasels from Wegmans on Sheridan Drive in Williamsville April 25 and brought them to our wildlife hospital at our 300 Harlem Rd., West Seneca shelter.
Jimmy in the SPCA’s Wildlife Department worked with them to ensure they were healthy enough to be transferred to a local wildlife rehabilitator for a somewhat “extended” stay until old enough to release!
To see what services the SPCA Serving Erie County is offering the community during its COVID-19 response phase, please visit https://YourSPCA.org/COVIDResponse.
The Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) state in a recent document concerning COVID-19’s transmission between humans and animals, “CDC is aware of a small number of pets, including dogs and cats, to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19. Only a few of the animals reported to be positive showed signs of illness.” Read that entire document from the CDC by clicking the image below.
