New facility to help injured wildlife
A local veterinary technician is working towards opening a wildlife rescue centre in the area next year.
Olivia Vandersanden is hoping to have Kawartha Wildlife Centre up and running by spring 2018.
It’ll be a wildlife facility that cares for sick, orphaned and injured native Ontario wildlife.
“The goal is to provide that service ... with the purpose of returning all the animals to the wild once they’ve been rehabilitated or raised, in the case of orphans,” Vandersanden said.
The PCVS graduate is a registered veterinary technician from Ennismore, who’s completed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s wildlife rehabilitation exam.
The 26-year-old currently works at Lakefield’s Village Animal Hospital and Cavan Hills Veterinary Services in Cavan.
But her passion lies with wildlife.
And seeing as there isn’t a wildlife centre within about 75 kilometres of the Kawarthas, Vandersanden decided to open one.
“People have to commit to driving an hour or bring it to vet clinic, which is legally allowed to humanely euthanize but there’s nowhere for them to go to actually get proper wildlife rehabilitation care,” she said.
After college, Vandersanden got a job at the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre.
“Getting to see the animal you’ve worked really hard on be released afterward is really neat – I find it very rewarding.”
Those experiences, along with an appreciation for wildlife conservation, prompted Vandersanden to open the centre.
She’s now in the fundraising stage for it, having launched a GoFundMe campaign about a month ago. Her goal is to have three years of operating costs in the coffers before she opens up.
Once fundraising gets rolling, Vandersanden said she’d start to look for a location. It’ll have to be outside the city, she said, to have enough acreage for the animals.
A few vets have already signed up to help out and some vet techs, too. In addition to trained professionals, Vandersanden will also be reaching out to the community for support.
“We’re going to rely a lot on volunteers,” she said.
The centre would have the support of the National Wildlife Centre as well. It’s a mobile veterinary service that travels to clinics to do speciality surgeries.
As the centre gets closer to opening, Vandersanden will put out a donation wish list for needed items, such as towels, baby bottles, cleaning supplies and newspapers.
In the meantime, residents can keep up to date with its progress through the Kawartha Wildlife Centre’s Facebook page.
NOTE: To make a donation to Kawartha Wildlife Centre’s GoFundMe campaign, go to ww.gofundme.com/helpkawartha-wildlife.