An extremely cold winter in the mid-1970s brought about a heavy migration of bald eagles to the South, which led to the creation of the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center, says program founder Dr. Jimmy Milton.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brought six injured birds to the College of Veterinary Medicine and asked that we become a hub for the Southeast," said Dr. Milton. "Poisonous insecticides and gun shot wounds were common problems at that time and bald eagles were near extinction."

At the meeting, wildlife officials talked with Dean Jimmy Greene, Dr. Greg Boring of Radiology and Dr. Milton of Small Animal Surgery and Medicine. They arranged for Auburn University to become a regional center and accept injured birds of prey.

"The center became a reality, but we didn't receive any money to run it," Dr. Milton said. "However, the publicity for Auburn University was very good."

No facility existed so the group used the hospital area of the Small Animal Clinic. Dr. Milton had experience with exotic birds while other faculty developed expertise on birds of prey.

"The students also became interested, so we established a volunteer group to help with the birds and give educational programs," Dr. Milton added.

They used donations to purchase material to build a raptor barn behind the Small Animal Clinic, doing all the labor themselves. Birds were still treated in the hospital before being moved to small flight cages next to the barn. Later a hospital area was incorporated into the raptor barn.

"The raptor center gave students an opportunity to work in an unusual aspect of veterinary medicine," Dr. Milton said. "Students did all the care. They took care of the birds and continued with the educational programs.

"Dr. Ken Nusbaum was very instrumental in helping the students with the educational programs, which really helped create much public awareness. This has been as important as anything else in restoring bird populations."

Obtaining funds remained a problem, as the raptor center was not on the university's priority funding list. Donations to the university were required to go to programs on the list. The only money the raptor center received came from small contributions after educational programs.

The College of Veterinary Medicine supported the center through the Small Animal Clinic and departments such as Radiology and Clinical Pathology. It provided various services, food, medicine, surgery, equipment, and help from their veterinary faculty and staff.

The student-run program saw individual students taking care of various duties, such as feeding, rehabilitation, and flying the birds. In the late 1980s, participation was opened to wildlife students. Veterinary students provided treatment while wildlife students worked on rehabilitation of the birds.

"In early 1990s, Dr. Gary Beard joined the college as assistant dean of outreach," Dr. Milton said. "He saw the potential of great publicity and helped the center in obtaining more funding."

Dr. Milton retired from the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1994 after 30 years of service. He received the W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Award for his instrumental role with the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center, and he now operates the Veterinary Surgical Center of Birmingham.

The SERRC changed from being totally volunteer in 1996 by hiring its first paid staff member. Joe Shelnutt was a volunteer with the SERRC and was hired after completing a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn.

In 1998 the Elmore Bellingrath Bartlett Raptor Center Hospital was opened just off Shug Jordan Parkway behind the College of Veterinary Medicine. The facility was made possible by a $300,000 donation from Dr. Woody Bartlett '64 in honor of his mother, Elmore Bellingrath Bartlett, a noted Alabama philanthropist who died in 1993.

The hospital has a treatment room with a pharmacy and laboratory. It also has areas for food preparation, intensive care, an isolation unit, and medical storage facilities. Mews were built to house the injured birds.

In 2002, the College of Veterinary Medicine opened the Carol Clark Laster/W.E. Clark Jr. Raptor Training Facility, which was made possible by Carol Laster of Birmingham. Laster, a retired junior high science teacher, donated $500,000 to the raptor center and $500,000 to the baseball program and marching band. She played in the band at Auburn, and her husband, Dr. Russell Laster, is a 1951 graduate of the veterinary college. She selected the university for the financial gift after the death of her uncle W.E. Clark Jr., who left his estate to her care.

The Raptor Training Facility consists of 24 state of the art mews which house raptors that cannot be released and are therefore used for public education. Support areas also provide staff and volunteers space needed for training and group activities. The Lasters also contributed to the rehabilitation aspects of SERRC with 6 large flight aviaries for aerobic conditioning of releasable raptors.

In August 2002, Dr. Jill Heatley joined the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Heatley is a board-certified specialist in Avian Practice. She is the attending veterinarian for the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center as well as the primary clinician for the Zoological Medicine Service for the Department of Clinical Sciences. She treats all birds housed at the center, including golden eagle Tiger and bald eagle Spirit.

In August 2003, Dr. Ron Montgomery, professor and chief of surgery, was appointed interim director. He is a noted expert in orthopedic surgery and physical therapy and served as a faculty advisor to the center from 1996-1999.

In addition, a steering committee was appointed from the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences to advise on policies and procedures. Dr. Kenneth Nusbaum, an infectious disease specialist in the veterinary college, chairs the group.

Since its modest beginning in the mid-1970s, the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center now treats about 500 birds of prey annually from an average of 21 species, including bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, and many other species of raptors.