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OGDEN — A local wildlife rescue is giving a good Samaritan five stars for his creative approach to saving an abandoned baby bird.
Staff were surprised, to say the least, when a tiny, dehydrated bird arrived at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah last weekend — unaccompanied and in its own Uber.
The bird, now known as "Petey," was discovered by a man who'd "had a few too many" drinks that day, according to a Facebook post from the center. The man called the center and was encouraged to bring the bird in. But there was just one problem: He was too intoxicated to drive.
An hour or two later, the orphaned lesser goldfinch rolled up, quite literally, to the wildlife center. The man had called an Uber for the bird, employees of the center learned, and sent it on its way.
"I was like, 'Wow, that’s a first,'" the center's executive director, Dalyn Marthaler, recalled.
While Petey was thin and struggling when he first arrived at the center, by Wednesday he was healthy and "thriving," Marthaler said. It's expected that he'll stay there for another four to six weeks.
Marthaler encourages anyone who finds a sick, injured or otherwise struggling animal to contact the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah or other nearby wildlife rescue for help right away.
Would she like to see more animals arrive by ride-share in the future?
"I don't know how Uber feels about that," Marthaler said with a laugh, "but get them in any way you can."
