Kawartha Wildlife Centre in Ennismore, Ont. closes doors due to staffing issues

Staffing levels have forced the Kawartha Wildlife Centre north of Peterborough, Ont.,, to abruptly close its doors until further notice on Thursday,

The charitable organized in Ennismore announced on social media it would be closed until further notice, noting it not longer has an authorized wildlife custodian or rehabilitator — a role required by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for a site to operate.

“We legally cannot receive wildlife. We cannot handle wildlife at this time,” said Brittany Finigan, the centre’s secretariat, told Global News Peterborough on Friday.

Formed around 2019, the volunteer-run centre focused on rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned wildlife with the ultimate goal of releasing animals back into the wild.

The centre’s Facebook page highlight a wide variety of animals that have received care including squirrels, beavers, porcupine, bunnies, owls, deer, and a variety of birds.

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All current animals at the centre have been relocated to other wildlife rehabilitation centres across Ontario.

“We have had a custodian in place since we started accepting wildlife several years ago,” said Finigan. “It’s a fairly complicated and delicate situation, so we would prefer to keep it private at this time.”

2:54 Kawartha Wildlife Centre is helping animals you can’t take to your typical veterinarian office

Followers of the centre have asked if they could donate funds. A GoFundMe page posted this week was removed on Friday morning.

“We rely on funding to do any hiring that we’re able to manage and unfortunately, this year we did not receive the funding that we needed to be able to hire our supplemental staff,” said Finnigan.

The result led to resource and staffing shortages, says Finigan.

“We did have volunteers that would occasionally stay overnight to provide care if it was needed,” she said.

Finigan advised if anyone finds an injured animal, to contact one of the following wildlife custodians:

• Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden at 705-286-1133
• Shades of Hope in Pefferlaw at 705-437-4654
• Soper Creek in Bowmanville at 905-442-1648
• Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee at 613-354-0264

“We recognize that our closure may be putting added stress on other wildlife rehabilitation centres in the province,” said Finigan.

— with files from Germain Ma/Global News Peterborough