ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) - An animal sanctuary for reptiles in Escondido is in desperate need of help and is asking for monetary donations.
Skyrocketing costs for food, lighting, insurance, veterinary care, and other expenses have forced the nonprofit EcoVivarium Reptile Sanctuary and Museum into debt, and it now faces potential eviction.
An eviction would lead to possibly closing down the sanctuary in 30 days, which would also mean having to euthanize its animals.
"My greatest fear is that we would have to go to euthanasia," said Susan Nowicke, the Executive Director and Owner of EcoVivarium.
Nowicke said EcoVivarium is home to 400 animals, from turtles to tortoises, lizards, snakes and more reptiles.
Nowicke said the pet trade business is a multi-billion dollar business that, unfortunately, takes wild reptiles and amphibians out of their natural habitats and into domestic households.
Nowicke said most of the time, pet owners underestimate the care these animals need, so many of them get turned over to her sanctuary malnourished and injured.
"A lot of these animals are impulse buys," Nowicke said. "That's an animal that can grow to 6 feet in length and can live 25+ years. Nobody thinks about that part, and it's just too much for a lot of people. The cost of caring for them is expensive."
Nowicke said their animals also have nowhere else to go.
Nowicke said these animals, like a python, anaconda, or Asian water monitor, cannot be rehomed, taken to a zoo or released back into the wild.
Zoos are meant for reintroducing animals into the wild, and not all of her reptiles are healthy enough to survive in those ecosystems.
EcoVivarium is the best chance for the survival of the animals, and it's also a chance for the animals to thrive because EcoVivarium is also a museum, offering around-the-clock hands-on tours with the animals.
"That is our gift to them because they didn't ask to be taken from the wild," Nowicke said.
Jade Lyles, a mother who brought her family to EcoVivarium on Sunday for one of her son's birthdays, said the museum tour was amazing.
"It's just so neat that the kids get to interact with the animals and also to hear the stories of how these animals were saved from different injuries," Lyles said. "I think it's neat for the kids to have exposure to that, so they can learn to respect the animals like when they encounter them in the wild."
While EcoVivarium is a great place for the community to visit, it is currently facing economic hardships.
Nowicke said her nonprofit has not fully recovered from revenue losses during the pandemic when museums had to close for 18 months.
In addition, Nowicke said they had an influx of animals that came in during the pandemic that they still are caring for to this day.
Nowicke said in the past year, not only have costs skyrocketed from supplies to food, but grants were cut from their usual funding.
"Because it was an election year, a lot of people were unsure of what was going to happen while they were waiting for the election to happen and a lot of grantors ended up closing their grants for the year. Literally in one year, all of them went away," Nowick said. "Our liability coverage went from $3,000 a year to almost $13,000 with no advance notice, and our monthly donors, which are our life source, had to stop giving because times got tough for them."
Nowicke said they're behind on rent — a position they've never been in before.
If facing eviction isn't scary enough, Nowicke said the thought of what could happen to her animals that have been in her care for decades is even more concerning.
"I hate to think about it, but in theory, it could be euthanasia for some of them," Nowicke said. "I hate to beg, but we need help, and we need it urgently."
To donate and help save the animals at EcoVivarium, follow this link.
