Peace River Wildlife Center unable to reopen after Milton

A home for hundreds left in ruins and closed with no idea when it will come back.

Here on WINK News, we have brought you the stories of people in nearby communities whose lives have been changed by Hurricane Milton. Now, we turn to the animals in the Peace River Wildlife Center who are now homeless.

A nearly empty animal center is all that Hurricane Milton left behind.

Debris is still scattered throughout the property and almost all of the animals are gone.

All that remains are a few dedicated employees, fighting their growing exhaustion to offer help in any way they can.

It’s unusual to find an empty parking lot with dried-up leaves rolling in the wind at the end of Ponce de Leon Parkway in Punta Gorda, but Hurricane Milton pushed the wildlife center to the brink, closing it indefinitely.

“Damage is pretty much catastrophic,” said Tricia LaPointe.

LaPointe is the center’s executive director. Wiping away a tear, she describes Milton’s wrath.

“That mesh, that’s the water line from Milton. The gift shop shifted on its foundation,” said LaPointe. “The handicap ramp up to it actually pulled away and moved. I don’t know if there’s a spot where it’s not a lot of damage.”

All of the animal enclosures were left vacant except for two owls.

“Some of our animals were temporarily rehomed at, you know, Flamingo Gardens. Busch Wildlife reached out to us, so they do have some of our residents temporarily,” said LaPointe.

The difficult task of cleaning up is exhausting.

Despite that, they won’t quit. Even if that means bringing work home with them.

“We’re not able to pay our staff what they should be able to be paid, but they’re here anyway,” said LaPointe. “You know, they’re working: our curator, our rehabber and our veterinarian have animals at their house that they’re caring for.”

Sometimes it’s all worth it if you know what you have to look forward to, for the Peace River Wildlife Center, that’s a new location.

The center hopes to open its new location in the next year. They are working as fast as they can but need a lot of help from the community.

Click here to donate to the Peace River Wildlife Center.