El Paso County commissioners voted Tuesday to remove funds in a federal block grant tentatively earmarked for a wildlife rehabilitation center in Ellicott.

“This is not how public money should be used,” said Commissioner Amy Lathen, who made a motion to delete $15,000 in federal funding for the Ellicott Wildlife Rehabilitation Center from a Community Development Block Grant totaling nearly $1 million.

The rehabilitation center is in Lathen’s District 2 in eastern El Paso County.

“It’s not about my district. It’s about money and how it’s spent,” Lathen said afterward.

After deleting the funding for the wildlife center, the commission voted to give $11,378 from the federal block grant to the Meridian Youth Ranch and $15,000 to the Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Fountain.

The commissioners didn’t rule out the possibility of approving some federal dollars for the wildlife center if the facility owners want to make a presentation to the board in the next month or so.

“I don’t think it’s a done deal,” said Commissioner Sallie Clark. “I’ll be anxious to hear them come back and make their argument.”

Donna Ralph who founded the center with her husband, Phil Carberry, was disappointed by the decision.

“I’m bummed, I have to tell you,” she said by phone.

The couple was planning to use the $15,000 to purchase materials to build an outdoor shelter.

“We wanted to build a covered area where the kids could come and work on their projects. We have no tables, no places where they can sit,” Ralph said.

The couple founded the nonprofit in Littleton about 15 years ago. They relocated to Ellicott 10 years ago because they needed more space for the 300 to 500 birds and animals they take in each year.

Supported mostly by donations and small grants, the wildlife center is licensed by both the state and federal governments and has an operating budget of $40,000, Ralph said. The facility relies on volunteers to help out with the day-to-day work and veterinarians who donate their expertise.

“When donations are down, we have to turn animals away,” she said.

The center has taken in hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, porcupines, bobcats and many other wild species.

“Our animals are born free, and they’re going to be released free,” Ralph said. “We don’t cuddle with them, and we don’t play with them. They’re wild, and we want to keep them wild.”

One of the animals that they returned to the wild a couple of months ago was a silver-haired bobcat nicknamed Roberta, who arrived at the center as a 7-pound cub.

The cub had been struck by a vehicle on C-470 near Morrison as she was crossing the highway with her mother and a sibling. The mother was hit but kept going. The other cub was killed. Roberta had two broken legs.

After her injuries were attended to by a veterinarian at Littleton’s Deer Creek Animal Hospital, Roberta was sent to the Ellicott facility to recuperate. During the next few months, her legs healed and her coat grew thick and shiny.

Then she was set free.

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Kevork Djansezian