ASHLAND — Dezirea Goon always loved wildlife growing up. She traces that love to her dad, who instilled an appreciation for it.
Goon turned her interest in wildlife into a position in the veterinary field, where she’s now worked for more than 20 years. In 2015, she earned her veterinary technician license.
As of last year, Goon has taken on a new challenge in her chosen field: she received a permit to run a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Goon serves as the lone Ohio Department of Natural Resources-permitted wildlife rehabber in Ashland County, according to the office’s records.
She runs a refuge, called White Tail Crossing Wildlife Refuge, on her property. Goon rehabs the animals that come to her in her spare time, while still maintaining her day job as a vet tech.
She holds a Category One permit from the ODNR, which means she can rehab orphaned squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and woodchucks.
Goon said she went through an Intro to Wildlife course from the ODNR, and had to have a veterinarian sponsor she worked with. In her case, that’s Ashland Veterinary Clinic, where she works in her day job as a vet tech.
But Goon said she’s working towards her Category Two permit, which requires three years of rehabilitation experience, according to the ODNR’s website.
With that permit, Goon could rehabilitate, “rabies-vector species, deer, coyote, bobcat, mute swans and state or federal endangered species, unless otherwise approved by the Chief of the Division of Wildlife.”
Making an impact
So far this year, Goon said she’s helped rehabilitate and release 112 animals — an increase from the year prior, she said.
The spring was her busiest time, but she’s currently working on rehabilitating a flying squirrel and baby possum.
“If you find an animal suffering, you know, everybody wants to be able to help it,” Goon said. “Sometimes, we’re full and can’t help them and we feel so bad for them, but it’s important to get them back out to the wild and let them live.”
Goon said animals come to her after a variety of circumstances. The amount of time it takes to rehabilitate an animal and prepare it for release back into the wild depends on the animal’s state when it comes to her.
So far, she’s most commonly called to help rehabilitate wild animals orphaned or harmed following attacks by pets. She also receives calls about animals hit by cars. For example, Goon said this spring, she rehabilitated baby skunks whose mother was hit by a car.
A family affair
Goon doesn’t make a profit off the refuge. Instead, she runs it with the help of donations — both of money, and needed items.
Anything donations don’t cover, Hickory Hollow Concrete provides. Goon’s husband, Mike, owns and operates that business.
Goon also has several volunteers who help her with tasks like feeding the animals, an undertaking that can get lengthy depending on how many animals she’s taken in.
Her sister, Jessica Thompson, regularly helps out at the refuge, too.
Thompson, who works at Graham Auto Mall, said she and her 13-year-old daughter enjoy helping Goon with her efforts. Thompson said she brings her daughter’s friends along sometimes to learn about the wildlife, too.
“I’m just so proud of (Goon),” Thompson said. “Somebody needed to do it, and it’s just a blessing that I get to watch her do this and help her.”
Goon said she hopes one day she can turn the refuge into a wildlife center and AirBnB to offer people a chance to learn more about the creatures she rehabilitates.
“There’s really nothing else like it,” Goon said. “I just feel like it’s important for people to be able to enjoy the wildlife.”
For those who find an animal that may need Goon’s help, you can contact her via Facebook, or over the phone at 330-317-0299. Also on White Tail Crossing’s Facebook page is a link with items the refuge needs, for those interested in donating.