City Wildlife protects and advocates for wildlife and wildlife habitat through rehabilitation for release, public education, and community engagement.
Who We Are
City Wildlife was created to address the need for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Washington, DC. Over the past several decades, urban development has reduced local wildlife habitat and wild animals have had to adapt to living in close proximity with people. Each year, hundreds of wild animals in DC are unintentionally harmed by people and the urban environment.
Our goals are:
- To manage a rescue center to assist sick, orphaned, and injured wild animals and return them to the wild;
- To promote the enjoyment of native wildlife and harmonious co-existence with wild animals; and
- To protect the District of Columbia’s wild places for animal habitats.
What We Do
Prior to our opening in 2013, there was no wildlife rehabilitation center in Washington, DC. The nearest wildlife rehabilitation center was an hour away and many injured animals in the District were not able to make the journey.
In 2007, City Wildlife founders Anne Lewis and Jim Monsma came together to try and figure out a way to fill this gap in animal care.
Why We Need You
City Wildlife relies upon grants and personal donations to sponsor our work. We need the support of the local and national community to help keep our doors open and fund our education and outreach programs as well as the center itself. We rely heavily on volunteers to help us with Lights Out, Duck Watch, educational outreach, and animal care.
Meet Our Staff and Board
Jim Monsma, Executive Director
Jim Monsma has 25 years of experience in the animal protection field in the Washington, DC area. An avid birder and amateur naturalist, Jim has a keen interest in preserving native birds and other wildlife. He helped launch City Wildlife and the Lights Out DC program for the protection of migratory birds before becoming the director of Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 2012. He returned to City Wildlife in October 2018.
Sarah Sirica, DVM, MPH, CWR, Clinic Director
Dr. Sarah Sirica grew up in King George, Virginia. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Bridgewater College in Virginia. Her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and Master of Public Health were completed at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. She was in small animal private practice and a volunteer wildlife vet until 2020, when she started an internship at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. After her internship, she worked for two years at the New Mexico Wildlife Center in Santa Fe, before heading back east to City Wildlife. Dr. Sirica enjoys general medical and surgical care of all wildlife and doesn’t like to pick a favorite animal! She also enjoys teaching veterinary students and rehabilitation interns. Her favorite topics include wildlife disease, wound management, and One Health. In her spare time, she an her husband Nicholas enjoy spending time outdoors hiking or in the garden, reading, and playing with their two dogs, George and Indiana Bones, and two cats, Jay and Mitten.
Dominick Fenech, Animal Care Manager
Dominick Fenech is the newest member of the City Wildlife team. He’s been interested in wildlife since a young age, and this hobby quickly grew to a lifelong passion when he became an intern at the Bird Center of Michigan in 2018. At the Bird Center, a small nonprofit rehab facility for songbirds, he worked his way up to assistant manager, teaching new interns the basics of wildlife rehab. During his time there, he studied the behavior and husbandry requirements of avian patients. He continues to grow as a rehabber by working on his wildlife rehabilitation license.
Volunteer Veterinarians
Bryan Vorbach, VMD
Board of Directors
Anne M. Lewis, President
Maryanna Kieffer, Vice-President
April Linton, Vice-President
Ginny May, Secretary
Gertrude Scanlan, Treasurer
Jim Monsma, Executive Director
Anne Armstrong
Mary Cheh
Lisbeth Fuisz
Peter S. Glassman, D.V.M.
Paula Goldberg
John Hadidian, PhD
Braden Herman
Veska Kita
Helen O’Brien
Lisa Olson
Mike Prucker
City Wildlife Annual Report 2022
City Wildlife Annual Report 2021
City Wildlife Annual Report 2020
City Wildlife Annual Report 2019
City Wildlife Annual Report 2018
