Wildlife Emergency

Help! I found an adult goose or duck with a fishing line/hook!

Unfortunately there is a fishing line crisis at our urban ponds in Utah. Waterfowl, shorebirds, and sometimes birds of prey become entangled in fishing lines or embedded with fishing hooks. The hooks do not easily come out as they often have a barb at the end and fishing lines wrap around legs and wings causing constriction and loss of blood flow to the limb. This will eventually lead to death of the animal if medical care is not initiated.

Please remember that safety is the #1 priority and if you do not feel safe capturing a wild animal, you should not do it.

• A bird with a fishing line entanglement or fishing hook always needs to come in for care.

• Do not attempt to remove these items yourself.

• Sometimes our fishing line cases can return to the wild the next day, sometimes in 5-7 days, and sometimes they need extensive care, and other times they are euthanized due to the severity of injuries. With our on-site veterinary staff we are able to remove these items gently and under anesthesia to avoid discomfort and pain, and evaluate if the animal needs antibiotics or other medications to help with limb blood flow.

• If you are able to capture a bird that has suffered from fishing line entanglement, please follow the capture and containment instructions here or watch the video below for how to capture and contain the animal.

• After it is captured, please call or text us at 801-800-1776 letting us know you have a fishing line entangled bird and that you would like to make an appointment to bring them in.