Editor’s Note: Trigger warning. This story includes mentions of sexual harassment and mistreatment and death of animals. Annabella Whittaker and Josie Pyker’s names have been changed to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. This story was updated to reflect a statement provided from the NoCo Wildlife Center, as well as information pertaining to the resignation of Tallon Nightwalker, which was provided April 14. 

The Northern Colorado Wildlife Center, a local animal rehabilitation facility, has long faced allegations of sexual harassment, animal mistreatment, alcohol and drug usage, and improper operations at the facility. Multiple individuals, including Sammi Robinson, half-sister of Operations Coordinator Tallon Nightwalker and step-daughter of Senior Wildlife Care Supervisor and Founder Bob Nightwalker, have confirmed to The Collegian there was a pattern of abuse and mistreatment at the center.

Robinson, from a family of animal caretakers, came into the Nightwalker’s lives when her mother began a relationship with Bob Nightwalker. Both worked in wildlife rehabilitation, Robinson said. 

When Robinson’s mother died due to liver cirrhosis as a result of alcohol poisoning, Robinson said she lived with the Nightwalker family and experienced extreme verbal and physical abuse. 

In 2025, allegations against the NoCo Wildlife Center emerged on Reddit. Users in the thread alleged multiple accounts of sexual harassment and abuse, particularly toward interns, in response to a post that stated “80% of their staff stepped down including several board members.”

Robinson confirmed the basis for the online allegations. 

“As far as the context on the abuse that is being alleged right now, one of the biggest things that is being alleged is that Tallon is being predatory with all sorts of different kinds of coworkers,” Robinson said. “I’ve heard that, potentially, he is sending pictures of himself that are sexual to people who are underage. This has been posted on Reddit and then deleted multiple times by multiple different victims now over the course of the last few years. Also, he’s been seen offering them alcohol. I do believe that he also may be driving other people while drunk. He might be driving animals while drunk. He has wrecked multiple cars because of his dangerous driving.”

Robinson used to be a student at Colorado State University, and she confirmed that the NoCo Wildlife Center frequently hires interns who are CSU students and volunteers, in addition to external community volunteers.

Annabella Whittaker was one of those volunteers. 

“Many years ago, I got started with the Wildlife Center as a volunteer,” Whittaker said. “I had worked with them for quite a few years in a very in-depth way and worked up to working with them in their current facility. … Toward the end of my time with the Wildlife Center, I had seen a lot of concerning behavior. In the beginning of my time with the Wildlife Center, I was not working as closely with Tallon and Bob, and (executive director) Michela (Dunbar) was not part of the team yet, and I had seen some distant concerns and had some issues in the past with board members and harassment issues being brought up. Before that, there were restraining orders between board members and Tallon in the past, and those, like, were kept very quiet.”

Whittaker said the environment did not start out as predatory, but the behavior changes occurred the longer she was with the center. 

“Specifically in the beginning, I experienced a lot of very friendly behavior,” Whittaker said. “A lot of, like, just wanting to hang out, being very casual as a group. There were a lot of group outings, … and some of the concerning behavior that we started to see was drinking at the facility (and) concerns with handling animals.”

Whittaker said that as she reached the end of her time as a volunteer, staff personalities began to shift.

“Towards the very end of my time, I received a lot of microaggressions and just a lot of behavior that, even to this day, still has me very kind of traumatized and triggered just by the flip in the personality that I saw when we had been friends,” Whittaker said. “And the moment I started to question some of the things we were doing or, you know, voiced my opinion of discomfort when there were regulations not being strictly followed, or advice from our veterinarians being ignored, the behavior that I was given after the fact was just very jarring to experience. It was very scary to see that flip in behavior, and it just left me feeling very uncomfortable, to the point where, after weeks of trying to have dialogue about the concerns that I brought up, months of talking with the board of directors to try and resolve some of these issues, both myself and several board members ended up resigning and leaving the organization.”

Whittaker said the NoCo Wildlife Center would ignore veterinary care instructions with animals that had been brought in for rehabilitation. 

“There … was a goose that we did not have permission to be doing the rehabilitation work for,” Whittaker said. “That request to be able to get an exemption to care for that animal was never sought out. I ended up doing that after I had asked repeatedly for it, and we did not receive any response from (Colorado Parks and Wildlife). So that was something where we did not have permission to keep this animal.”

Whittaker said the goose lived in the NoCo Wildlife Center’s care for longer than the veterinarians suggested before being euthanized.

“The injury with that animal is something our veterinarians had said, ‘You know, this has a really poor prognosis,’” Whittaker said. “‘We wouldn’t recommend trying to rehab this animal. We would recommend peaceful euthanasia.’ And that animal ended up staying in an enclosure that was too small per the requirements. It ended up injuring itself (and experiencing) undue suffering for a very long period of time, about 60 days, before it was eventually euthanized. So there were many cases, and that’s one, but there were quite a few cases that were very similar to that situation, where just veterinary advice was ignored, state regulations were overlooked and ignored, and I think that a lot of animals have and continue to suffer greatly.”

As part of the volunteer team, Whittaker worked closely with CSU students who were both interns and volunteers, many from preveterinary fields of study. The NoCo Wildlife Center’s internship website advertises animal care internships that “support the daily rehabilitation of injured, orphaned and sick wildlife. Interns gain extensive hands-on experience with animal husbandry, basic medical care and safe handling techniques.” 

According to its website, the center’s primary mission is to rehabilitate sick and injured wildlife animals, many of which are brought in from community members. The center relies on a staff of interns and volunteers, as well as a full care team. 

“I worked very closely with the volunteer team,” Whittaker said. “And many, many of the volunteers were CSU students. And for those folks, they really had no idea. This was, like, their first experience working with wildlife rehab, and so they took everything that was told to them as, you know, what should be (done) and what is OK. There were a lot of situations where these people were really put at risk.” 

Whittaker said one of the risks incurred was exposure to rabies. 

“They were exposed to rabies vector species and animals that had rabies, while these people did not have rabies vaccines, and that is something that is very illegal,” Whittaker said. “It is very serious. Rabies is 100% fatal, and that is not something to mess around with. And we had volunteers handling rabies vector species without gloves, without (personal protective equipment), and we were putting a lot of people at risk. There were several volunteers that, while the Wildlife Center was doing field rescue calls, those volunteers were put in danger. Several volunteers had fallen through ice in the ponds when we had had a policy in place that we would not do water rescues in the wintertime because of that risk. One of the volunteers fell through the ice and ended up almost having hypothermia. A lot of people were just put in danger and at risk because there were a lot of policies that were being ignored and a lot of safety legal laws that were being ignored as well.”

Whittaker said she has since left the center. 

Josie Pyker, a former employee of the NoCo Wildlife Center who wished to keep their exact position anonymous due to safety concerns, confirmed that interns and volunteers experienced this behavior at the center. 

“I raised concerns regarding all of this, as well as workplace conduct and professional boundaries to the board of directors multiple times,” Pyker said. “I believe I was actually one of the first individuals to report these instances. After I began speaking up about these issues internally, several volunteers and seasonal staff approached me privately with similar, very problematic situations that made them uncomfortable. In one instance, I was made aware of a situation in which Bob Nightwalker confessed his love over email to a 20-year-old volunteer. This volunteer left shortly afterward.”

Pyker said that oftentimes interns were left to care for animals unsupervised. 

“I became increasingly concerned with a number of issues related to workplace safety, animal welfare concerns and organizational oversight,” Pyker said. “I observed situations where controlled drugs were not secured or recorded properly, or where individuals without appropriate training, licensing or rabies vaccination status were involved in medical procedures. There were also many times where I witnessed inexperienced staff or volunteers left responsible for animal care without appropriate supervision.”

Pyker said that in times of intense sickness among animal breeds, very little care was taken to prevent the spread of disease.

“I witnessed massive animal welfare concerns,” Pyker said. “This organization has never implemented biosecurity measures into their practice. In fact, these measures were attempted to be implemented when dozens, if not hundreds, of eastern cottontails were dying of a highly infectious diarrhea. Every morning, we would walk in and bag at least five rabbits who had passed. In addition, bats with and without white-nose syndrome were kept directly next to one another. The healthy bats developed white-nose.”

Avian flu outbreak numbers have risen in the past few years, with patients often being treated without protection at the NoCo Wildlife Center, Pyker said. 

“Northern Colorado has experienced a surge in highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks, which were handled at NCWC in improper, nonprotective measures,” Pyker said. “Birds with suspected HPAI were euthanized in the same room housing the ICU and critical patients. Education animals passed of a respiratory infectious virus in the same room where community members can bring their young children to events.”

Pyker said the density of students interested in wildlife rehabilitation and veterinary care is very high in Fort Collins due to CSU’s prevalence as a top veterinary school; however, it also makes predatory behavior more likely, with more students seeking work opportunities.  

“Wildlife is inherently challenging, and most people who volunteer or work in the field do so because they care deeply about animals and conservation,” Pyker said. “They will tell students they can come hold, treat, euthanize and perform procedures on wild animals, and of course this sounds like an amazing experience to young, ambitious individuals. However, once you are sucked in, you are asked to donate, you may be sexually harassed, you put yourself in danger occupationally and in terms of infectious disease, and you may not recognize the complete liability you become when you work here. If you are pursuing a professional program with animals, I would highly persuade you to never step foot in this place, as your association with them may cost you a professional future.”

NoCo Wildlife Center did not initially respond to The Collegian’s requests for comment regarding the allegations made, but, on April 14 The Collegian received an email from Bob Nightwalker with the following statement. 

“In 2025 alone, our team rescued, treated, and released hundreds of animals, achieving outcomes consistent with national standards,” the statement said. “We currently support over 100 interns and volunteers, with approximately one-third serving for more than 18 months. Additionally, our educational outreach programs have reached more than 15,000 individuals, promoting safe and responsible coexistence with wildlife across Colorado.”

The allegations against Bob Nightwalker and Tallon Nightwalker were first reported by The Coloradoan in 2024, when the accusations of harassment and drinking on the job were initially posted to Reddit. That December, a total of seven board members and paid staff members resigned, leaving the center with just Bob Nightwalker, Tallon Nightwalker and Dunbar, according to The Coloradoan’s coverage. 

According to The Coloradoan’s article, Dunbar confirmed Tallon Nightwalker was undergoing behavioral counseling and required training to improve his performance. Robinson said behavior has not improved in the two years since. 

“Some of the women who I also want to talk about are involved right now (and) are still probably at the center,” Robinson said. “Maybe there are people who are working right now with Bob and Tallon and are learning about this for the first time. I believe that any of these women who are still working at the center and men and the ones who are posting in defense of the center are not doing anything wrong, and I don’t hold any contempt for them. If anything, I see them as people who are a proxy to being abused. I don’t have any feelings for these people of ill will. I don’t feel like anybody needs to come after them.”

Robinson said her childhood spent with Bob Nightwalker and Tallon Nightwalker was marked by physical abuse, neglect, reckless driving and unwelcome sexual advances toward herself and friends. Her mental health suffered as a result of her upbringing, Robinson said.

“This is the kind of behavior I’ve also heard from many other victims and also people adjacent to victims in the community,” Robinson said. “You’ll notice that a lot of the surface-level comments on Reddit from people who do feel safe talking about what they know mentioned this kind of behavior. ‘Oh, when he was around, he was so creepy. Oh, he was always making these really weird sexual comments,’ or things like that. … Tallon is very charismatic and very good at creating a space in which he can get away with this kind of inappropriate behavior. But he can also do it in a way that makes it feel like it’s just him being a guy, just him being silly, where you don’t feel comfortable enough to push back on it. And he’s learned that from his dad. Both Bob and Tallon are very charismatic, and they’re very good at having a public face and turning their abuse into what looks or makes them feel charismatic.”

On April 14, The Collegian was provided with an email sent to NoCo Wildlife Center on April 14 informing staff of Tallon Nightwalker’s decision to resign.

“After more than ten years of dedicated service, Tallon Nightwalker has made the decision to step down from his position at Northern Colorado Wildlife Center,” the email, which was sent to staff, said. “As the founder of this organization, Tallon established a vision centered on compassionate, specialized wildlife care and community education around coexistence. That vision has guided the work from the beginning and continues to shape our efforts today.”

Robinson and others connected to the Nightwalker family and the NCWC have submitted police reports of abuse, drunk driving and other allegations. Despite the departure of board members in the past, the NoCo Wildlife Center remains open and operational. 

“I believe that there may be victims who are part of CSU’s campus, who are still in our community, who feel like they don’t have anybody who hears them, believes them or knows that this is happening,” Robinson said. “And if they see this, I want them to know that we believe you. There are lots of people right now who are gathering behind the scenes about this, who are talking about this, who are spreading the news, and there are many victims, and so this is a good time to come forward, even if anonymously, to police or for your own, you know, resources to take care of yourself.”

Reach Allie Seibel at news@collegian.com or on social media @allie_seibel_.