Stop Alberta SRD From Mandating Wildlife Euthanasia!
- recipient: Minister Mel Knight, Alberta SRD, and Evan Berger, Parliamentary Assistant; Environment Canada
The provincial government is forbidding wildlife rehabilitation centres in Alberta from treating about a dozen species of animals and requiring them to euthanize seven species on-site out of concern for human safety. Many of these species are on provincial and federal endangered species lists. They will have to euthanize bats, skunks, deer mice, racoons, toads, salamanders and frogs- other than the threatened leopard frog. According to the permit, wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars, lynx, bobcats, moose, elk, caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and bison will not be rehabilitated and any such animals brought to a rehabilitation facility must be turned over to the Fish and Wildlife Division within 72 hours. However, the Fish and Wildlife division does not have the facilities necessary to house these animals, so they will either be immediately euthanized or released back into the wild despite their injuries.
This is a message from concerned citizens of Canada and the world, regarding the provincial legislation forbidding wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Alberta from treating certain species.
According to the SRD's spokesperson Darcy Whiteside, these animals present a danger to public safety either through diseases or habituation.
This is so-called solution is a very uneducated approach, and is NOT the right solution. Wildlife rehabilitators work very hard to ensure habituation does not happen, and take extensive measures, including vaccinations when available, to prevent transmission of zoonotic diseases.
Euthanizing animals just because they MIGHT carry a disease or MIGHT become habituated if they are handled improperly is NOT ethical or acceptable. These animals are not malicious, and are typically admitted to rehabilitation facilities due to human activity, so who is really the threat?
Time, money, and legislation is better spent on educating people about disease transmission and proper wildlife handling to prevent any occurrence of these issues.At the rate humans are encroaching on wildlife territory, human-wildlife interaction is going to continue to increase, and people need to be taught proper contact methods, not have fear instilled in them about the natural world.
Preventing trained rehabilitators from working with these species is going to discourage the general public from notifying anyone about these species if they're injured, and many will likely attempt to help on their own. Without proper training, this exacerbates the problem you're seeking to eliminate.
We understand your goal, but respectfully insist you stop implementation of this decision and perhaps confer with rehabilitators as to more reasonable ways to reach a solution for your concerns.
