It’s an unlikely friendship and a bond like no other between a Kelowna teenager and a Canada goose, but the 17-year-old was forced to give up his fine-feathered companion Sunday night.
Olliver Klassen was also issued a $230 fine for unlawfully possessing a migratory bird.
The goose was seized by conservation officers following a complaint and released it back into the wild.
Under the BC Wildlife Act it is illegal to keep wildlife, including geese, as domestic pets.
“I’d put my hood up and he’d sit right here under my hair. We could give him baths in the sink and take him outside for walks at the park,” Klassen told Global News of his relationship with the goose.
Klassen decided to adopt the bird in May after it was found alone in the middle of a busy road by a family member in the Vernon-area.
The gosling was only a few days old when Klassen decided to give it a name.
“He just looked like an Elliott,” Klassen said. “I raised him so he was like my little baby.”
The bird imprinted on its human care-giver and helped the teen cope with anxiety.
“He’s just really comforting so when I’m anxious I’ll come out and he’ll come walk up to me and put his head right here, and just like comfort me, it’s really nice to be loved by a little animal,” Klassen said.
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Klassen said he is worried about the welfare of the bird.
“I’m upset about it. I’m really worried about him. I don’t know what is going to happen.”
Conservation Officer Ken Owens said the bird’s chance of survival is slim.
“Speaking very honestly, the chance of this particular goose surviving is going to be very low just because it was raised by humans unlawfully,” he said.
Owens encouraged the public to avoid contact with wildlife.
“When people find what they believe to be an orphaned or injured wildlife, it is very important that they don’t pick up these animals, they contact the Conservation Officer Service,” he said.
Klassen is hopeful he will one day be reunited with Elliott.
“I really miss him, I want him back.”
But the wishful reunion may be improbable.
The Canadian Wildlife Service won’t issue permits for migratory birds to be kept as pets.
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