Robert Horvath has been a fire fighter for New York City for more than 14 years with Engine 264 in Far Rockaway. There are many fire fighters in the city, but Horvath may be the only one licensed to rehabilitate lost or injured wild birds and animals.
And rescue them he does. According to an article in the New York Daily News by Lisa Colangelo, Horvath has rescued a hawk, a coyote and a bobcat, among many others. It’s a little-known fact, even among people who have lived their whole lives in the city, that the boroughs teem with wildlife.
Sure, it’s no Yosemite, but there are animals everywhere. Hawks patrol central park. Ospreys nest in Jamaica Bay next to Canada geese and wild swans.
“People really don’t know what is in their own backyard,” Horvath told Colangelo. “We want to open people’s eyes.”
Horvath rescued a coyote that had made its way into Central Park in 2006. Some of the animals he rescues start out as pets. That was the case in February when Horvath made headlines for rescuing Staten Island’s resident bobcat.
The name of the nonprofit he founded says it all: Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation. Horvath, who is 47, funds the group mostly out of his own pocket. He gets donations of money here and there, but it is really a group of loyal veterinarians near his home in Massapequa on Long Island that he depends on. They help out for free when he has an injured animal that needs medical care.
Students at the ASPCA‘s Animal Awareness Camp in Staten Island got a visit this summer from Horvath and a kestrel, a hawk, owls, a skunk and a box turtle.
“Children don’t always get a up close and personal view of wildlife,” ASPCA Humane Education Manager Joanne Pentangelo told Colangelo. “Bobby was great. The kids loved it.”
Photo courtesy of foxypar4, via Flickr