OTTAWA, Nov. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Doug Ford’s government is at it again. The province’s lack of transparency and accountability – already identified in a damning report by the Ontario Auditor related to the Greenbelt development scandal – is now wreaking havoc at a wildlife rescue facility in the Kawartha Lakes area.
Two wildlife advocacy organizations are calling on the Ontario government for a fully independent investigation.
On September 26th, 2023, over 40 Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) conservation officers and police, along with a canine unit, drones and a helicopter, raided Mally’s Third Chance Raccoon Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. They seized nearly 100 juvenile raccoons, along with personal vehicles, cell phones and computers.
“What could possible justify this extreme and costly use of force against a charity caring for baby animals? What a waste of tax dollars for what are allegedly only minor regulatory infractions,” said Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada.
A video of the recent rally at Queen’s Park by supporters of Mally’s tells of the abuse. Animals were left in small cages without any water for the entire day, despite the pleading of volunteers, while the MNRF conservation officers enjoyed a catered lunch.
This reckless display of force has left many in Ottawa with a sickening sense of déjà vu.
“I can’t believe this is happening again,” said Donna DuBreuil, president of the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre (OCWC). “In 2002, ministry officials, escorted by police who later told us they were embarrassed to have been involved, descended on our centre and seized 34 baby raccoons. Sadly, we know first-hand the trauma that Mally’s staff and volunteers are experiencing.”
The pretence behind the seizure of the OCWC’s animals was rabies. It followed an arbitrary decision by the MNRF to extend the high-risk zone for rabies north into Ottawa and well beyond.
This unprecedented show of force against a wildlife sanctuary, staffed mostly by young female interns, fueled public outrage that kept the controversy in the media for months. It also prompted the OCWC, using Access to Information, to uncover what was really behind the raid.
Follow the money
“As they say, when something doesn’t make sense, follow the money. We found that a significant $815,000 grant from the federal Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for the study of the spread of raccoon rabies and the supporting expansion of the high-risk zone in Ontario was at risk,” said DuBreuil. “It would be hard to justify this grant given that, just before its approval, raccoon rabies had been all but eliminated in Ontario, with only a few cases remaining, none near Ottawa.”
“The unwarranted expansion of the raccoon rabies high-risk zone and the seizure of baby raccoons from our centre in Ottawa became a convenient and well-timed crisis to bolster the case for the grant,” she added.
The MNRF was a major partner in the four-year project. The baby raccoons seized from the OCWC were taken to the Ministry’s research facility in Codrington, Ontario. What happened to these animals can only be left to one’s imagination.
“Two decades later, this same Ministry continues to abuse its power to terrorize community volunteers and threaten innocent animals. It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” added White. “Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) was designed to ensure public consultation on government initiatives and programs, but the MNRF found a workaround.”
Citing a rabies “emergency” that never was in 2002, the MNRF applied for and received an exemption from the EBR for its Wildlife Rabies Control Program. That exemption allowed them to expand the rabies high risk zone into Ottawa with zero public oversight.
The MNRF would continue to seek and receive such exemptions for more than 20 years, with the current one in place until 2025. The exemption effectively shuts out any accountability for taxpayer funding of rabies control, and flies in the face of evidence showing that rabies is the lowest risk to human health disease in North America, thanks to pet vaccination.
“Premier Doug Ford has a responsibility to rein in the rogue activities of the MNRF,” said White. “In addition to the huge waste of taxpayer dollars, the organized attack on young healthy animals at Mally’s raises the question: who exactly is in charge of this Ministry?”
The OCWC and Animal Alliance call on Premier Ford to order a return of the animals to Mally’s, or another authorized rehabilitation centre at the Ministry’s expense, provide an apology to Mally’s and, especially, the community. It was members of the community that sought help for these orphaned baby animals and who were, without a doubt, very grateful that Mally’s was there to help.
“The time for a fully independent investigation of MNRF’s ongoing abuse of power and intimidation of wildlife rehabilitation sanctuaries is long overdue,” said DuBreuil. “The public deserves answers about where the animals are being held and what is being done to them, along with an accounting for the unwarranted taxpayer dollars being spent on rabies research in Ontario that many believe is behind this Ministry’s actions.”
Contact information:
Donna DuBreuil, President, Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre, ocwc@ncf.ca, 613-726-8178 or 613-832-1508
Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada, liz@animalalliance.ca, 416-809-4371 (cell)
