Animal-lovers step up to save beloved Okanagan bird sanctuary

Community donations are pouring in to help a small bird rescue sanctuary in Kelowna take flight once again.

The operator was forced to close due to pandemic-related financial constraints.

Kym Fargo has owned Petri’s Treasures – Cruelty-Free Feathers, a cockatiel rescue sanctuary in the Central Okanagan for the past 16 years.

“Having seen firsthand the pain and fear of neglected and forgotten birds, she found her calling to give these sweet animals a life without fear, pain, or neglect by opening her heart and her home to rehabilitating and rescuing small birds,” said friend Krista Brown.

Many of the rehabilitated birds are re-adopted into loving, forever homes, but others require specialized care and mounting recovery costs can pose a burden, she said.

Fargo funded her sanctuary by selling naturally moulted feathers at local farmer’s markets, which were limited to food sales this past summer due to pandemic protocols.

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“We lost out on valuable income that supports our rescue for the whole year,” Fargo said.

“This breaks my heart to have to say no to anyone, as I know I am pretty much the only safe rescue for small birds here in Kelowna.”

Fargo announced the closure of the bird rescue on Nov. 7, but has since received at least $3,000 in donations through an online crowdfunding effort spearheaded by Brown.

“As Kym has uplifted so many lives, giving birds a new hope and future, I would like to sincerely ask that you help me in uplifting Kym by supporting her work,” she wrote.

The fundraising page can be found here.

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