Winter Newsletter 2018

AnimalKind – handled with care

Anyone who has dealt with mice in their basement or a squirrel chewing through their home wiring knows that quick and effective action is a must. Wildlife rehabilitation centres frequently see cases of “pest control gone wrong”, but can the problem be solved without unnecessary harm to animals? The BC SPCA’s new AnimalKind accreditation helps you identify wildlife management services that will remove uninvited guests as humanely as possible.

The program accredits pest control and wildlife management companies committed to using animal-welfare based standards with the BC SPCA stamp of approval. AnimalKind has also developed pilot standards for dog training, to help connect dog owners with trainers who use verified humane methods.

To find an accredited company in your area or to learn more about the program, visit www.animalkind.ca New Paragraph

KIDS HELPING KRITTERS:

Recognize this young man? You should. He’s been in our newsletter numerous times because of his kindness to the animals.

10 year old Levi Vizza brought another donation to our Open House this year. Money raised from bottle returns, his allowance and his birthday. I can see Levi becoming an animal rescuer when he grows up.

Also donated during our Open House, moneys raised during both Connor & Evan Ireland’s (no picture available) birthday celebrations. Another example of youngsters caring for animals and wanting to help whatever way they can.

9 year old Sylvia Hellman (no picture available) is yet another youngster who raised money during her birthday to help the animals. She even took the time and drew this special greeting card to go with her donation.

5 year old Addiline Legge and 8 year old Kai Legge brought in with their donation for the animals.

They came to our Open House and brought a trout for the Otters that Kai had caught himself. Yummy says Orca the Otter.

ONCE AGAIN TODAYS YOUNGSTERS ARE HELPING IN MANY WAYS AND ABOVE ALL, CARE SO MUCH FOR THE ANIMALS.

On October 3rd we had not one but two rescues involving skunks with their heads stuck in dumpsters’ holes.

No one knew how long this poor fellow had been stuck but he was definitely pinned in the hole for some time. Staff and interns spent around an hour and a half lubricating its neck to no avail. Supervisor Breanne decided she’d have to go inside the dumpster to get a better handle on the situation. Needless to say she was covered in garbage juice but did see that the skunks’ neck was badly swollen.

Not wanting to give up but realized they needed help Breanne called Nathan at the Centre for the phone number of the Langley Non-Emergency Fire Department number and was told that he, as well, had to go on a skunk rescue in Surrey under the same condition. The Langley Fire Department were amazing and came within twenty minutes and assisted.

Finally getting this little guy free resulted in seeing it had very serious injuries and was rushed back to the Centre, but despite all this effort he did not survive.

This guy too had a badly swollen neck but was lucky to survive and was taken back to Critter where he too is on medication and will make a full recovery along with the Surrey skunk.

On behalf of the Skunk population and all other critters we would like to extend our gratitude to Langley, Surrey and Vancouver Fire Departments for their amazing and much appreciated assistance.

If you are a business owner/manager your dumpsters likely have drainage holes and we are asking for your help too. Perhaps you could find a way to attach some sort of screen over the holes to prevent these hungry critters sticking their heads in and then ending up this way. We sure would appreciate this help. Thank you.

An AAH STORY:

Mamma Opossum was admitted on May 5th. It was thought that she was possibly hit with a weed whacker but after full examination this was not the case. She had sparse hair on her head and bloody ears from scratching, she had fleas, a severe neurological problem as well as a very bad upper respiratory and nose infection. She also had an ulcer in her right eye.

To top it off Mama also had 9 six week old babies in her pouch.

She was given treatments that were safe while nursing and after her babies were old enough they were pulled so we could be more aggressive with her treatment. Her babies were raised and released at the end of July.

Mamma is a very old opossum. They only live about 3 years in the wild and we think she is on the higher end of 2.5 years old. She still has some issues with her nose as well. She is a palliative case and will live out her days in luxury at Critter Care being cared for by her foster mommy, Supervisor Breanne.

Deborah Connelly, owner/operator of Unicus Studios in Chilliwack (www.unicusstudio.com) has a love of animals. How can you tell? Right?

With this love and her artistic talent she put on a fundraising campaign for Critter Care where for a $5.00 donation your name would be entered to win a tattoo worth over $900. She raised over $3000. Thank you so very much Deborah.

Grand Hale Marine Products Co. Ltd. is a family-owned business that believe in giving back to the community in a big way. They do this with a concert each year that benefits a charity. The wonderful thing is the band is comprised of owner Spencer Cheung and other family and friends.

For the past few years Grand Hale has dedicated this concert to Critter Care Wildlife Society. Spencer and his family are huge animal lovers. They just had the latest concert on October 20th and boy can they strum a guitar. It was a huge success as always and everyone had a wonderful time.

We thank Spencer and his family & band for all their kind support. They are an amazing band.

Each year Potter’s  on 48th Avenue hold a Ladies Night Out at their store. This year it was on November 1st & 2nd. The store is an array of Christmas gift ideas, wine, entertainment and snacks. It’s a marvelous night to come out and see all the Christmas decorations and gifts available. Tickets for this event usually sell out well in advance. This year was no different.

For the past few years Potter’s has donated part of the proceeds to Critter Care Wildlife Society. We always have a table there as well with our calendars and other goodies. Again this year Potter’s has done this for us and we are so very grateful to them.

Taken at this years’ Annual General Meeting on November 4th. Right to Left:

President – Maureen Binnie,

Treasurer – Jan Myrol,

Director – Santa Claus aka Don Griffith,

Vice-President – Lynda Brown

Director – Bob Warnick,

Director – Eleanor Wells.