Wild animals in distress require special care and attention, says Susanna Braund of Coast Animal Welfare and Education Society (CAWES.)
The group is hosting an expert from Wildlife Rescue in Burnaby, to share what to do when you encounter an injured wild animal, this Sunday, April 22 at Collins Hall.
Spring is the right time of year to tackle this tricky subject.
“This is when people on Bowen will be finding baby animals especially in distress,” Braund says.
“It’s the breeding season so we will have birds falling out of trees, and then, if people find a fawn, they don’t know what to do with it, whether they should do something or not,” she says. “Or if they find a baby seal, they don’t know what to do with it.”
Last year, an individual on the island found a goose with an injured wing and took it home to care for it, she says, and kept it in their bathtub for two days.
“If only they had contacted CAWES, we would have been able to arrange to get the goose to the wildlife rescue within 24 hours,” she says. In that situation, the goose did not make it and had to be euthanized.
“They were trying to help but they didn’t necessarily do the right thing,” she says.
And she hopes the free event on Sunday will help people who have good intentions, in situations like this to know what to do — and in turn, help the animals in need of help.
The free educational event runs from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.
