Going to the Birds

I know there's been a lot of gloom and doom talk about rising health care costs, lost insurance, and ER closures, but today's Chicago Tribune shows that the situation is far worse than I thought.

The Bird Emergency Room (yes, as in an ER for birds) is facing financial collapse.

Winter weather damage has burdened the avian trauma center with thousands of dollars in repair costs at a time when donations are drying up, leaving our injured winged friends with nowhere to turn.  Dawn Keller, a wildlife rescuer, would triage her patients, place IVs, and even use a coffee stirrer to suction blood from an ailing bird's mouth, but is now fighting to keep her ER from closing its doors.

Oh the humanity!