Hope for Wildlife is in fix-it mode after freezing rain and heavy winds on Tuesday badly damaged some of the Seaforth, N.S., animal sanctuary’s wildlife enclosures.
The fence around the white tail deer enclosure was knocked down and part of the small flight cage was lost in the storm.
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Fortunately, all animals are accounted for and none were hurt during the stormy night.
Hope Swinimer, owner of Hope for Wildlife, said the deer unit is very important to their operations, as usually during the summer they house up to 20 white tail deer.
The deer unit cost about $30,000 to build 11 years ago, Swinimer said. She has no estimate for what it might cost to rebuild.
Swinimer said the loss of the small flight cage, where no animals were living at the time, also means a financial hit for the centre.
“The winter is our busy time for our birds of prey, we’ve got close to a dozen birds of prey waiting for flight space, so the little flight cage is going to have to be fixed really quickly,” Swinimer said.
“We’ve got to move really quickly to keep those birds of prey exercised and through the systems, so they can be released as quickly as possible.”
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The storm also came dangerously close to damaging the bald eagle unit, where Swinimer said two eagles were almost lost.
Swinimer said there’s no estimate yet on how much it may cost to repair the damaged animal enclosures.
Hope for Wildlife is appealing to the public for financial support as they work to repair the damage.
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