FEATHERING A NEST OF HEALING; WHEN CRITTERS FEEL DOWN, WILDLIFE TEAM PICKS THEM UP.

Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer

A new emergency center and hospital is planned for the Malibu hills - one that will cater only to patients with feathers, fur or scales.

Wildlife Emergency Response, a nonprofit agency that bills itself as a paramedic team for wildlife, plans to convert a 3,000-square-foot chalet into a state-of-the-art emergency room and hospital for as many as 200 animals.

``There's no place around locally for these animals to go,'' said Rebecca Dmytryk, the group's founder and co-executive director. ``We hope to be operational by November, maybe October.''

Late last month volunteers cleaned the yard, refinished cabinets and washed windows at the center. The organization is relying on volunteers to donate much-needed tile work, carpentry, plumbing and carpeting.

Organizers also are creating a team to apply for grants to help pay the estimated $250,000 a year it will cost to operate the wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center.

The organizers hope to have special cages for animals ranging from hummingbirds to mountain lions. Donors can sponsor a cage for their favorite animal with a gift of $250 to $5,000.

As well as regularly housing as many as 200 animals at a time, the group hopes to convert space to care for an additional 200 birds in the event of an oil spill, Dmytryk said.

The group will get rent-free use of the chalet for five years from the state parks system, which once housed employees there. State officials believe it's a bargain for taxpayers since Wildlife Emergency Response performs services not provided by city, county or state agencies.

``We don't have the facilities or staff to do that,'' said Russ Guiney, Angeles district superintendent for the state parks service.

``We very much rely on local wildlife rescue groups. . . . It's a very good cooperative venture for us.''

Common wildlife victims needing care include deer hit by cars and birds that smack into windows. In May and early June, the group received six to eight calls a day about ill sea lions on local beaches.

Wildlife Emergency Response primarily assists animals whose injuries are the result of some human contact. But the group also helps animals injured by other wildlife, such as a sea lion bitten by a shark.

``Our purpose is to get these animals back into the wild,'' Dmytryk said.

Wildlife Emergency Response is under contract with Malibu for $1 a year to handle injured or sick wild mammals, reptiles and birds found in the city, said city spokeswoman Nancy Steiner. The local animal-control agency deals with stray domestic animals and pets, Steiner noted.

Eventually Wildlife Emergency Response members hope to earn contracts with other cities in the area, from Calabasas to Thousand Oaks. But the members want to make sure the operation reaches a professional, efficient level before expanding.

``We just want to do it slowly and carefully,'' Dmytryk said.

People should not try to use the hospital as a drop-off center for injured wildlife, Dmytryk said.

``They will not be invited to bring the animals here,'' she said. ``They're not educated on animals. They're not familiar with them.''

Instead, people who find wild animals that appear ill or injured should simply call the center, as they would call any other emergency-response organization, Dmytryk said. The number is [phone].

``We're the paramedics,'' she said. ``We go out, assess the situation and make the professional call whether to relocate or leave them.''

For example, not all birds found on the ground are injured or ill, Dmytryk said. Especially in the spring, many birds on the ground are simply fledglings learning to fly. The best care is to leave them alone, Dmytryk said.

``Even the best (human) rehabilitator is not as good as the animal's natural parent,'' Dmytryk said.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Aaron Frank nets an ailing sea lion at Zuma Beach to take to San Pedro. He is co-executive director of a group that plans to open a wildlife hospital in Malibu.

(2) Volunteers use boards to herd the sea lion from the net, whose opening has been placed in a cage.

(3) Before human rescuers capture an ailing sea lion at Zuma Beach, a gull checks whether the animal is something edible.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News