BC SPCA rehab centre calling for donations of building materials to keep wild animals safe
Staff at the BC SPCA’s Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Wild ARC) say they are in desperate need of construction supplies to help keep animals in their care safe.
Many of the animal enclosures at the more-than-four-hectare Metchosin, B.C., property are in need of repair, or require modifications to accommodate the wild animals housed at the rehabilitation facility.
The agency is appealing to the public for donations of lumber and plywood as it prepares to take in new animals in need of care.
“We are a non-profit so we don’t have a lot of money to do things,” said Wild ARC manager Ginelle Smith. “There’s a lot of building and construction going on and I’m sure there’s a lot of companies or individuals that have spare pieces that they don’t need.”
Smith says Wild ARC is looking for a range of lumber, from lengths of two-by-twos, to two-by-fours to sheets of plywood. She says the need to rebuild the enclosures is even greater this year due to climate change.
“Certain improvements are needed due to heat domes in the summer and [also] avian flu outbreaks,” said Smith. “We have to rebuild a certain way for quarantine and what we’re asking for is help for us to do that.”
Smith says that in 2021 staff at Wild ARC rehabilitated more than 3,200 wild animals at the Malloch Road facility. She says the organization expects to care for even more animals in 2022.
“We get busier every year and we just need more spaces for our patients who come here,” said Smith. “Our flight pen, our outdoor deer and our avian enclosures all need to be improved.”
Smith says staff did have some lumber stored at the facility, but due to demands for new spaces, it has now been depleted, leaving their reserves empty.
“If we could get two dozen of each size [of lumber] that would hold us for a while,” said Smith. “It's extremely important as we have big projects going on now at Wild ARC because we’ve got patients that will be here any day now.”
Smith says the wild animal rehabilitation centre has been operating under a significant amount of strain due to a series viruses affecting wild animals, such as deer and birds.
“We’ve especially had to revamp our deer area for the deer fawns when they arrive,” said Smith. “It’s extremely important to get the lumber so we can get through what we have to get through.”
Donations of lumber can be dropped off at Wild ARC at 1020 Malloch Road, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. seven days a week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.