CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Summertime gives more people the chance to get outdoors and makes encounters with animals out in nature more common. But what happens when a person comes across an injured animal?

“The best thing to do is get in touch with a professional,” said Sarah Cooperman, executive director at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary in Shipman, during a recent appearance on 106.1 The Corner. “Don’t go grabbing the critters.”

Opened in 2004, Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary takes in abandoned and injured animals with the goal of rehabilitating them and then returning them to the wild. It cares for about 1,000 animals a year, all without receiving state or federal funding.

Cooperman said about 200 animals are currently at the facility, each requiring daily feeding and cleaning. They are caring for bats, foxes, possums, raccoons, squirrels and as many as 40 different species of birds.

Most of the sanctuary’s animals are orphaned. Seriously injured animals are often sent to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for specialized veterinary care.

Cooperman wants people to understand the importance of getting animals care for properly.

“Wild animals do not belong in our homes. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t know that,” she said. “Every year we get at least a few animals that have been illegally rehabbed by folks that just didn’t know that rehabbers existed. And then there are folks that take wild animals home and keep them as pets, which is never OK.”

It’s a message Cooperman said the organization tries to spread through its social media accounts, as well.

“Our goal with our social media is to be funny and have a good time, but we also think it’s really important that, when we’re educating people about wildlife,” Cooperman said. “We’re not doing it in a way that shames people for doing something incorrect when they didn’t know better. We really just wanna spread all the info that we can so that more people know how to do right by wildlife and how to get in touch with us or their nearest rehabber if they find a critter in need.”

If someone comes across an injured or abandoned animal in the wild, Cooperman said they can call the sanctuary at 434-263-4954 or visit

the organization’s website for more information.

There is an option to text photos to the sanctuary to help determine what kind of care an animal may need, and the website has a tab for people who want to support the organization’s work.

Cooperman said the most rewarding part of the sanctuary’s work is when the animals they’ve been working with are ready to be released back into the wild.

“Every single release is rewarding in and of itself, because often times you’re releasing an animal that you were there from the very first phone call,” she said. “It doesn’t need you anymore. It doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore. Those are just so special and kind of remind all of us at the sanctuary why we do this of work.”