Work With Us
Establish or continue a career in wildlife rehabilitation.
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue (CWR) is powered by the combined force of our community supporters and donors, an extremely diligent volunteer crew, and a small, dedicated team of staff. CWR staff members are entrusted with all aspects of animal care and work to learn from each other and engage with our mission of wildlife rescue.
It is an exciting, rewarding, and at times grueling field. We welcome any and all candidates who strive for involvement in a wildlife hospital. Whether your background is in veterinary medicine, rehabilitation, conservation, education, or something else entirely, we look forward to expanding our team with your unique expertise.
Please visit our pages on volunteering or student internships for more information on these opportunities.
Current Openings
Seasonal and year-round positions will be posted on Indeed. If you don’t see postings, be sure to check back later!
For the most up-to-date job postings, please visit our Indeed.com profile.
Interview with Staff Veterinarian: Dr. Sonia Borrell, DVM
For private veterinary care, you can visit Dr. Borrell at Sun Valley Animal Hospital!
Friends of CWR will already know her, but for those who don’t, Dr. Borrell always goes above and beyond for the animals that come through our doors. It all began on November 19, 2017. Almost one month from the day five years ago, CWR experienced one of the worst tragedies in our 25-year history. A barn fire at the rescue killed 40 birds.
Do you ever remember the strangest detail from a life-changing event? Like the exact time or the way your sock was crumpling up in the bottom of your shoe or how the left back passenger window in your car that day wouldn’t roll down?
“Well,” Dr. Borrell says. “I was wearing blue pajamas with sheep on them.” She remembers it so distinctly. She had been working at a local animal hospital for several years already after moving her family to North Carolina permanently from her home city of Miami.
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That fateful night she got a frantic message from her friend Lisa. “You have to get over there! You have to help them!” Lisa told her. Dr. Borrell had never even heard of the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. But, she saw they were asking for an oxygen condensing machine on Facebook.
As luck would have it, she still had an oxygen condensing machine that had belonged to her now-passed father. The night was cold. Her son was in bed. She put on her shoes and went out the door.
It was chaos. The smell of smoke filled the air. People were scrambling and the presiding vet at the time was all the way in Raleigh, NC, where he lived. So, he was 3.5 hrs away at least and it was already late in the night. Dr. Borrell stepped up to introduce herself: “I have this machine here, and I don’t know anyone but I’m an exotic vet. I can triage birds for you.” That was all we needed to hear.
Back then, CWR’s rehab room was small, located in our main building. Dr. Borrell started with steroids and oxygen tanks, triaging every bird that crossed her medical table. All in all, 50 birds were left fighting for their lives. They contended with smoke inhalation and burns on their feet and bodies.
After the night was over, Dr. Borrell left. A year-and-a-half passed. She continued her weekly work at the animal hospital, and one day she got a call from our director. “Would you be interested in joining as our vet?” she was asked.
Dr. Borrell had a young child and was already working full-time. She only had one day a week off—Thursdays. But if that was good enough for her, it was good enough for us!
She started coming in on Thursdays. Our rehab team was a two-man show then, so she would oversee their treatment and lend expert counsel on animal prognoses, dosage amounts, and was a massive help in supplying us with essential medicines for all of our wild and domestic birds.
Cracking a smile, Dr. Borrell says that she loves coming to work here because she knows without a doubt that everyone who is here wants to be here. “People aren’t coming in to get covered in poop,” she laughs.
Even her son has become a familiar face around the rescue! He loves to visit and is unbeaten in his uncanny ability to find the sneaky eggs that slip past us . She and her family share special places in all of our hearts for the constant dedication and compassion they bring to the practice.
The kicker? Dr. Borrell almost didn’t become a vet. When she first went to school, she fully intended to study law. She took the LSAT, worked for a district attorney, and then realized this wasn’t what she wanted to do.
While she was at this crossroads, her friend gave her a book to read, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ by James Herriot. An inspired book series from the 1970s, it chronicled the span of Herriot’s own farm animal veterinary career when he began in the 1930s. Dr. Borrell knew as soon as she picked up the book that this was her answer.
She went back to school, she fulfilled her prerequisite biology courses and applied to vet school. In the 50 US states, there are only 26 vet schools. 8,000 prospective students apply every year and from that number, only 2,000 are given spots in these selective programs.
Dr. Borrell joined the charter class of St Matthew's University School of Veterinary Medicine in the Cayman Islands. She worked hard for three years and emerged in the top 5% of her class. She spent her fourth year at NC State and excelled during her clinical studies.
She planned to go back to Miami upon graduation and become a horse vet, in true James Herriot fashion. When her mom fell sick, and she was flying back and forth between states, she realized she needed to be stationed in one place permanently. Cue her move to NC, and as they say, the rest is history!
Pictured here is Dr. Borrell with one of her favorite residents from over the years, Charlie. She ended up spending a lot of time with Charlie because his reproductive organs were chronically afflicted with tumors. He saw her till the end of his life, and she says his personality is what she fondly remembers of the duck who made a dent in her heart.
Meet The Team
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue employment opportunities are highly seasonal. If you do not see any current openings, please check back regularly. In the meanwhile, you can meet our team!
BEcoming a Wildlife REhabilitator
To rehabilitate wildlife in North Carolina, individuals and organizations must have a permit. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is the agency that issues state wildlife rehabilitation permits; federal permits (for rehabilitating migratory birds) are obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The links above provide details on the permit application process and specific regulations pertaining to wildlife rehabilitation. The conditions also describe the different types of rehabilitation permits that are issued.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Carolina Waterfowl Rescue is an equal opportunity employer that does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
You must be legally authorized to work in the United States.