Rescue Release Repeat giving animals a second chance at life

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - A local non-profit organization is giving domestic, exotic, and wild animals a second chance at life.

Rescue Release Repeat is the first of its kind in St. Joseph County. The organization’s founder, Rachelle Marshman, said the journey started after an injured baby squirrel stumbled upon her father’s backyard.

From then to now, she has rescued over 3,500 furry friends.

“We take in sick, injured, orphaned animals, we get them fixed up and then we release them back out into the wild,” Marshman says. “We do anything from a field mouse to a bald eagle.”

In some cases, the rescued animal might become an educational ambassador. That’s the case for an adorable raccoon named Morgan.

“There are specific times where there’s an animal that isn’t able to be rereleased back into the wild safely, so we apply through the state to keep them as an education ambassador, which allows us to go out into the public and promote the importance of wildlife,” Marshman says.

Marshman and 30 volunteers run this labor of love from her home. She hopes to one day open her own facility.

But in the meantime, she says any help that she can get is welcomed.

“A lot of people don’t know that we exist,” Marshman says. “There are different ways you can donate.”

Marshman says the biggest goal is to keep these animals in their environments. But if it’s sick, injured or orphaned, they have a place to heal at Rescue Release Repeat.

“I’m not going to lie, it is hard work, rehabbing. A lot of times, people think we’re sitting here and feeding baby animals and it’s just the happy Snow White picture, and a lot of time’s it’s not,” she says. “There’s a lot of trauma, there’s a lot of loss. But I always strive to say these guys are on bonus time, so wherever they were found, however they were, that is more than likely where they would’ve stayed ‘til the end of their days. But because they got to come to us, we got to give them bonus time. So, whether it’s an hour, a week, a year, that’s more time than they would’ve had.”

Any wild animal they get that requires vaccination gets it to prevent infectious diseases and give them the best chance at life.

Donations are accepted on Rescue Release Repeat’s website, which can be found here.