‘Shame to lose’: Sask. vet students worry about future of wildlife program

A bird treated at the Veterinary Medical Centre. (Courtesy: Makayla Gemin)

Veterinary students at the University of Saskatchewan are concerned about the future of its wildlife program.

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) is temporarily closing its zoo, exotics and wildlife service from July 22 to Aug. 17 because of a lack of specialized staffing.

In an email to CTV News, a university spokesperson said it was a “difficult decision.”

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“The Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC) has limited resources to concurrently maintain its 24-hour small animal emergency service,” the email reads.

The VMC is the teaching hospital operated by the WCVM.

The university said it’s conducting an “extensive review” before deciding the future of its zoo, exotics and wildlife service.

Petition to save program grows

Third-year students Makayla Gemin and Rory Langelier fear the temporary pause will become permanent.

They say the program is a valuable public service that provides students with hands-on experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom or through pet cases.

“Being able to work on cases where you’re not necessarily working with a client is something that gives us a lot of flexibility and more room to practice our skills, to become better veterinarians,” Langelier explained.

Gemin remembers helping treat two juvenile ospreys that had fallen from their nest. One required surgery for a broken femur before both birds were released back into the wild.

The students say the wildlife program is one of the reasons the WCVM stands out in Canada.

“It really would be a shame to lose it — for the animals, the public and the students,” Langelier said.

More than 700 people have signed an online petition urging the university to keep the service, as of Tuesday afternoon.

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Bonnie Dell, the executive director of the Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan, is grateful for the free vet care the college has provided them for the past 20 years.

“We have been the envy of all of our national partners ... we have a vet college here that’s open 24 hours a day and handling wildlife for free,” Dell told CTV News.

“It’s something no one else has in the country. I would be very sorry to see it end, of course, because I’m in the wildlife business. But I think we’ll all get through it.”

Dell said the VMC is the only veterinary clinic in the province that holds a permit to rehabilitate wildlife.

If the WCVM stops providing the service, permit changes may be needed if other veterinary clinics want to fill the gap.

Last year, the hospital treated about 230 wildlife patients — including animals injured in vehicle collisions and poisonings.