‘Literally just non-stop’: B.C. wildlife rescue says it’s overwhelmed and under-resourced

The operator of a Fraser Valley wildlife rescue centre says she’s been overwhelmed with new “patients,” and is struggling to stay afloat.

Elizabeth Melnick has been running Elizabeth’s Wildlife Centre for 39 years, and says spring and summer are getting busier every year.

She believes it’s a combination of climate change pushing the start of spring earlier and the effects of habitat destruction.

“We’re going to be getting a woodpecker in a few minutes. We’ve got 26 ducklings already, we’re getting four more momentarily,” she told Global News on Thursday.

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The demand is so high that they’ve begun to triage — asking people to always phone first before bringing an animal, allowing them to focus on the most needy cases.

Even so, she says they won’t turn an animal away.

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“We’re never too full to take another one, it’s just such a stressor. These things all require different diets … We go through thousands of dollars a month.”

With just one full-time staff member and a single volunteer, keeping up with demand is becoming a challenge.

She said the centre relies on seasonal workers in the summer, who are subsidized by the province. But this year, that funding didn’t come through.

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“Spring and summer every year, it’s just getting busier and busier and we’re getting less and less volunteers coming in,” said Kristie Johnson, the centre’s single employee.

“I average about 20,000 steps just in my shift at work … It’s literally just non-stop. I am lucky if I take a 10-minute lunch break.”

The centre is the only one of its kind in the area, and Melnick said they routinely get calls from as far away as Salmon Arm.

They’re appealing to the public for donations — both financial and of items like cleaning supplies and animal food.

They’re also hoping to beef up their ranks of volunteers, with the goal of ensuring no animal in need goes without care.

“It’s getting worrisome, because we can’t just throw these guys out the door,” she said of her fur and feathered patients.

“If we weren’t here, I don’t really know what would happen.”