Protecting birds by denying aid? Officials shut down hummingbird rescuer

Wildlife officials' decision to shut down a Las Vegas woman's hummingbird rescue service was maddening and wrong.

But it wasn't the least bit surprising. In fact, it's an important reminder of the unintended consequences of encouraging the government to step into any cause. Eventually, bureaucrats overreach.

Marion Brady's love of hummingbirds was first featured in the Review-Journal on July 7. The 20-year crime scene investigator for the North Las Vegas Fire Department started taking in sick and injured birds about four years ago, rehabilitating them and returning them to the wild. The work was as rewarding it was tedious - sometimes she hand-fed baby hummingbirds every 20 minutes.

Ms. Brady kept busy through referrals from the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary, which held a permit that she believed legitimized her work. She went so far as to carry a copy of the permit with her and have people who brought birds to her fill out a form, which was given to the sanctuary. Ms. Brady says she has saved more than 30 birds through this year.

However, Nevada Department of Wildlife officials saw that Review-Journal feature earlier this month, and they immediately moved to close her home-based bird hospital. In Saturday's Review-Journal, department spokesman Doug Nielsen said individuals must have permits from both the state and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to hold and rehabilitate migratory birds - even if the birds are not endangered or threatened - to ensure people "are following accepted protocols and procedures" and "aren't just removing wildlife from the wild on a whim." It turns out that Gilcrease's permit wouldn't cover Ms. Brady's work, even if she kept the birds at the sanctuary instead of her home.

Whatever "procedures" Ms. Brady followed clearly worked, and she was hardly caging birds for her personal amusement. She took in birds that would have died if not for her efforts. Regardless, Ms. Brady halted her work last week and took down her website. "I'm dumbfounded," she said. As are Review-Journal readers. Website comments and letters to the editor overwhelmingly have condemned the action.

Authorities decided they had no discretion here. And that's the ultimate lesson of this unfortunate intervention. Over the decades, animal advocates have won passage of numerous laws at all levels of government that score political points for elected officials and create protections for creatures great and small, rare and common. Organizations from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to the Humane Society of the United States have their own legislative agendas, lobbyists and grass-roots organizations to push for even more laws.

But once laws are on the books, agents are empowered and regulations are written, animal welfare advocates often lose the flexibility to act on their own compassion. At times, the bureaucracy does not distinguish between an animal abuser and a rescuer. And that only adds to growing public cynicism about the ever-longer reach of government.

Ms. Brady says she'll apply for the proper state and federal permits to resume her work. She shouldn't have to.