Travis Mealing Staff Reporter Jun 17, 2009

Midland wildlife centre closing its doors

Turtles with cracked shells. Broken-winged birds. A skunk whose foul odour is the least of its problems.

The closure of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Wildlife Centre in Midland means sick and injured wild animals like these will soon have to be nursed back to health elsewhere.

The OSPCA announced Monday that an operating budget shortfall will force the centre to stop accepting, housing and rehabilitating animals at the end of August.

"While this closure is unfortunate, it will provide us with an opportunity to reassess and refocus to ensure that when we reopen, we do so permanently," regional manager Judith Aubin stated in a press release.

The plan is for the centre to reopen in May, if not sooner.

(--Continued from home page--) Branch manager Maureen Dool said the shelter for domestic animals, located on the same Highway 12 property as the wildlife centre, is remaining open.

And, even after the wildlife centre shuts its doors, she added, it will remain as a resource, with a staff member manning a hotline for people with questions.

"We're always here to advise people," she said. "And that's how we'll operate after we close."

The toll-free number is 1-888-668-7722, ext. 386. It can also be reached by calling 534-3751.

"We'll give them information about wildlife," said Dool. "We can (also) advise them about where they can take sick or injured wildlife."

The wildlife centre, which opened in 1992 and moved into its current building seven years later, treats approximately 1,500 animals annually, said senior wildlife rehabilitator Liz Springall.

"We're the only SPCA-affiliated wildlife centre in Ontario," she said during a tour of the facility's treatment room and enclosures.

Dool noted the facility may be located in Midland, but it contains more than just local animals.

"Our facility is ... the provincial wildlife rehabilitation centre," she said. "People from all over the province take sick or injured wildlife here."

The first stop for someone with an injured wild animal is usually an OSPCA branch, and Dool said that won't change when the wildlife centre closes. The difference is that they will have to be transported elsewhere for rehabilitation.

Regarding the budget shortfall, Dool said the OSPCA and the wildlife centre receive virtually no government funding, subsisting on donations and ongoing fundraising efforts.

"We really need people to understand that," she said, adding the community's support is needed to shore up the centre's finances and ensure a successful reopening in the spring.

The wildlife centre has three full-time employees and four seasonal workers. The facility includes an admissions area, treatment room, nursery, isolation rooms and education room, as well as indoor and outdoor enclosures and a wetland rehabilitation project.

Click here to read the entire story online at midlandmirror.com

The Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at The Toronto Humane Society, which is licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, remains open. In 2008 we received 2002 birds and mammals into the Centre and so far in 2009 we have taken in 791 birds and mammals.