Ginnie Frati didn't have much of a childhood. Most of her younger years were spent in hospitals and doctor's offices. As an early cancer victim, Ginnie lost one of her kidneys to the insidious disease. Most of her summers were spent laying in bed looking out the windows at other neighborhood kids playing on the lawn. That terrible experience made her very sensitive to suffering....by man or beast.
Early in 1991, Ginnie Frati was on her way home to Sag Harbor from her job as a secretary with the Department of Public Works in Yaphank. She witnessed a Woodchuck hit by the car in front of her. The car sped off without concern. The animal was not killed and was writhing in pain on the side of the road. Ginnie pulled over and approached the animal. Her first reaction was that the animal could be helped.
Ginnie called a local veterinarian from a nearby pay phone and was told to contact a wildlife rehabilitator. With a hopeful heart that the woodchuck would soon receive help, she dialed the first of the numbers the vet had given her. She got an answering machine. After leaving a frantic message, Ginnie stared to dial the next number, only with similar results. She left a detailed call for help on the whole list of numbers. No one answered or replied. She waited and waited...then realized that no help was coming. Ginnie went back and sat next to the suffering animal until it died.
Suddenly, Ginnie could see, clearly, the hardships that wildlife must endure. She vowed at that moment to do something to alleviate the suffering of nature's wild creatures. It took her 10 years to keep that vow!
When one of the local rehabilitators finally returned her call, Ginnie realized that there was no full time facility for injured wildlife on the East End. The nearest was "Volunteers For Wildlife" located in Huntington. All the east end rehabilitators were of the "backyard" type. They all had to maintain regular jobs and fit their rehabilitation projects in where they could. Veterinarians would help, but usually after their "dog & cat" duties. Some would not treat wild animals at all.
There had to be another way. Ginnie began to research and accumulate every bit of information available on wildlife rehabilitation. She began attending seminars held by the International Wildlife Rehabilitators Council, the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association and the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitators Association. She traveled over the whole country in search of knowledge. She visited other facilities. She offered to volunteer with other rehabilitators. She bought textbooks...she borrowed reference books...absorbing all the information she could find. Over a period of years, Ginnie slowly gathered the necessary knowledge to go it on her own. In 1995, Ginnie passed the rehabilitators test.
As required by law, Ginnie aligned herself with some local cooperating veterinarians and began taking injured animals. So began the odyssey of transporting boxes of injured animals everyday to the Public Works building in Yaphank and carrying them across parking lots, down hallways, down stairs and into the archival rooms where Ginnie tended to her patients during coffee breaks and lunch hour. At night, the whole process had to be reversed. Evenings and weekends, Ginnie's house was transformed into a clinic for wild patients.
It was not unusual to find a goose or loon swimming in the bathtub or swans sailing across the swimming pool. Baby squirrels peeked out of incubators in the hallways. Birds with splinted wings in pet carriers all over the house. Turtles resided in terrariums left in the warmest spots. All available space was taken. This was not the answer! A home based center was only a stop-gap measure.
Local zoning did not permit buildings to be constructed for the purpose of housing wild animals..it appeared the only solution was to aquire land throught a cooperative land use agreement. This could only be accomplished by a non-profit corporation. In May of 1997, the Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons was born. Realizing the commitment that would follow, Ginnie took a huge step....she resigned from her job
At the very first board of director's meeting of the newly formed corporation, it was decided to pursue the aquisition of public property for a wildlife center. Inquiries were made to town, county, state and federal agencies for assistance. Many promising ideas turned into dead ends as plans were drawn, redrawn and discarded for new designs. Meetings dragged on over the year....civic associations....environmental councils...review boards....each requiring proposals and more plans. During this time, the long hours of caring for the wild animals continued. A lot of promised support fell by the wayside. Once optimistic volunteers faded away. And then we got lucky.
The Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation had offered several potential sites. Each of them were systematically eliminated for political, financial or geographic reasons. Finally we were offered a 40 acre site with a dilapidated old building. The deal was was a license agreement. Twenty years in exchange for renovations to the building which would become a gift to the county. Considering the rental vaue of land on the east end of Long Island, our board of directors thought this was a bargain. But who would complete the awesome project?
After a temporary agreement was signed with the county, Ginnie and a few die-hard supporters stood in front of the old building and wondered how long it would take us to complete this seemingly unsurmountable task. When we started to dismantle the old sagging structure, the miracle happened. People passing by noticed activity in the park that had lay in disuse for years. They stopped to look and the next thing they had their coats off and were pitching in with the others. A group of retired men volunteered to help, another mens club pitched in to help. Over the course of a year, every weekend was spent on our project. Some volunteers brought food to the ones working. Others ran to the stores for supplies. A lot just dropped off checks to help fund the project. Slowly, the unsurmountable task turned into a hospital dedicated to helping injured wild animals. Over 40 volunteers had completed the job in one years time. We opened our doors to the public in June of 2000.
Today we have a fully functioning hospital with an examination room, dietary preparation area, administrative and recovery areas. Outside we have three step down units for waterfowl, mammals and songbirds. A lot more is on the planning board.
