08/28/2019
Sad. 😟
We received a call this morning about an injured bird of prey in Yelm. Our good friend and former wildlife rehabber, Tammy Yuth, captured the beautiful, juvenile Cooper's hawk and transported her to Yelm Veterinary Hospital for evaluation and x-rays. The x-rays showed that the hawk was shot several times, with pieces of shot fracturing her right ulna near the elbow and at the wrist joint. Unfortunately, there is no fix for this injury because proximity to the wrist joint would cause the bone callus to fuse and immobilize the joint, so we made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize the hawk.
It is illegal to shoot birds of prey, as well as other birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. If you suspect that someone is shooting birds, please report them to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement. You can find the contact information for your regional office at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/contact.
A HUGE thank you to Tammy and the awesome folks at Yelm Veterinary Hospital for their time and services.
