THE COST OF GIVING A HOOT
Dale Gienow holds a barred owl Friday as Jade Murphy feeds it. WILDNorth Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation has seen a 20 per cent jump this year in injured and orphaned animals. “We are in desperate need of funds,” Gienow said.
It’s been a wildly busy year for WILDNorth Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation as it saves a record number of wild animals this year.
“We’ve been inundated with animals this year,” Dale Gienow, manager of donor relations and rescue at the organization on 125 Avenue and 128 Street, said Friday. “Typically, we get about 2,500 animals a year, but this year we are up 20 per cent and expected to go up to 3,000 animals.”
Not only has the organization seen an increase in animals needing care, it has also seen a variety of animals, such as a barred owl, peregrine falcon, baby foxes, a badger, beavers and even a pelican. The animals are released back into the wild when they are healthy enough to survive on their own.
Looking after all these animals is not cheap.
The organization, which is one of eight wildlife rehabilitation organizations in the province, has an annual budget of about $500,000, half of which goes to care for wild animals and the rest to administration expenses. So far, this year, care of these injured or orphaned animals has increased nearly 20 per cent, costing WILDNorth about $50,000 more than last year.
“We are in desperate need of funds to help care for all these extra animals here,” Gienow said.
One of the reasons for an increase in animals is that the organization recently launched a formal rescue program where staff and volunteers go out and rescue animals, Gienow said. This is as opposed to people bringing in animals that they found, he said.
WILDNorth has a paid staff of nine people and 160 volunteers. If donations don’t come in, layoffs are possible, he said.
“For us, the priority is the care of these animals that are brought in to us,” he said.