Sask. wildlife rehabilitation organizations still adjusting to regulation changes 1 year later

Some wildlife rehabilitation organizations in Saskatchewan are still making adjustments to their practices almost one year after the Ministry of Environment updated regulations.

The changes to the Captive Wildlife Regulations announced on June 1 put Saskatchewan in line with international animal welfare expectations, according to the ministry.

Additions to the list of species that can be held without a license and more licensing requirements for people or facilities holding restricted wildlife in captivity are some of the new updates.

Salthaven West staff said almost all the regulations were welcomed at their centre.

“There was many that we agreed with, including the possession of wildlife,” Megan Lawrence, the director of rehabilitation at Salthaven West, said.

“Previously, people could find certain species and take them home, keep them as pets, try to treat them themselves. We’re really on board with the change now that no one can be in possession of a wild animal without a permit.”

She said before the regulation change, people were often keeping animals like baby jackrabbits and squirrels at their homes.

Lawrence said the only regulation change she is not in favour of is no longer being able to rehabilitate coyotes, which she said Salthaven had a 100 per cent success rate with in the past.

Permitted wildlife rehabilitation centres are now required to release animals within ten or 16 kilometres of where they were originally found, depending on the species.

Lawrence said in most situations, that rule makes sense.

“If we find it did not come from an appropriate area, like the cases with oiled geese that we get or if there has been harm caused from a human, then we can simply ask permission to find another suitable habitat close by. It’s always been granted to release it in a different location,” Lawrence explained.

Jan Shadick, the executive director at Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, said flexibility with some rules is important.

“I think tightening up some of the regulations around the care of the animals as a whole is a good thing,” she said. “Rigid application of the rules probably is not super helpful. There are reasons for the ten kilometre rules for a lot of species.”

She agreed there are certain situations when it’s necessary to bring the animals to a different location than where they were found.

“If it’s an animal that was found in an area where it’s not wanted and then if you’re forcing us to put it back there, then it’s a death sentence for that animal,” she said.

Wildlife education has been part of Living Sky’s operation for a long time, and Shadick said that has dwindled under the new regulations.

“We used to be able to keep these appropriate, and I will stress the word appropriate, non-releasable animals for the purpose of using them for education,” she said. “Being able to use these animals as ambassadors to go into classrooms and teach kids about the amazingness of these little creatures, they get to see them as individuals, see their personalities, they recognize the animal’s value. They learn to respect the animal.”

Laura Knarr, the executive director at Knarr Wild Raccoon Rehab, has not received a permit to be able to care for raccoons since the new regulations rolled out.

She said one of her concerns is the costly vaccinations required for anyone handling certain animals. She said it’s now harder for busy rehabilitation centres to lawfully staff enough help.

“They all have as much as they can handle and then there’s restrictions on who you can have volunteering or what is required for the volunteers,” Knarr said. “It makes operating very difficult.”

MINISTRY REASONING

The Ministry of Environment said the updates to regulations were necessary because of the changes in handling wildlife. Before last year, the regulations hadn’t been updated since 1982.

“There had been a lot of changes in the practices of handling wildlife in terms of rehabilitation, people choosing to have exotic animals as pets, so it was time to modernize the regulations to address concerns,” Joann Skilnick, the director of wildlife with the Ministry of Environment, said.

Over the past year, Skilnick said the ministry has experienced an increase in the notification process for people holding animals that are not permitted to be held as pets.

“We’re just seeing people becoming more educated about the applications,” she explained.

Skilnick said the regulations are intended to ensure the safety for the public, rehabilitators and the animals.

“Depending on the organization, some wildlife rehabilitators will be able to meet those standards more easily than others,” she said.

The Ministry of Environment said it is always looking for improvements to its system, so is always willing to take feedback and will assess if adjustments need to be made to regulations.