At this time last year, the price of a frozen, euthanized mouse was 45 cents.
But now, that price has nearly doubled, said Diane Johnson, executive director of Operation WildLife Inc. And the 25-year-old animal rehabilitation clinic known as OWL is “struggling†as a result.
“Right now, we’re OK,†Johnson said of the financial situation at the Linwood-based clinic, which also has a satellite receiving center in Shawnee. “I don’t know if two or three months down the line we’re going to be OK.â€
Mice and rats, which are even more expensive, are in high demand as a main food source at a clinic that houses and rehabilitates 4,000 to 5,000 injured, orphaned and displaced wild animals every year. OWL has its own breeding colony of mice and rats, but “we’re limited on space,†Johnson said, so the clinic largely depends on an Indiana-based supplier to provide the more than 450 mice and 100 rats animals at the clinic consume on a weekly basis.