Animal Rehabilitation is such an important part of the animal community, not only does it benefit the animals but it can also bring personal well being and a newfound passion into your life.
Salthaven one of the many animal rehabilitation centers you can find in Ontario, while being based in Mount Brydges, it’s one of the closest centers to London.
With many uncertainties following climate and environmental health, it’s only natural to think of the animals and wildlife and what’s going to happen to them.
“Every g
eneration has a new normal and it’s kind of scary because for an old guy like me “normal” was what it was like 30 or 40 years ago but the new normal is kind of scary actually. So environment, we breathe the same air and drink the same water, and when we’re helping the environment and animals in it, we’re really helping ourselves too.” said Brian Salt, Director and founder of Salthaven.
Salthaven is a non-profit organization and a lot of why they’re allowed to do what they do is because of the community surrounding the center. Donations from towels, cages, and even syringes from hospitals all help keep Salthaven what it is to this day.
“It’s been a long haul you know, we’re supported. Salthaven’s become a community endeavor, its not just one person or a few people making it happen here its a whole community of people that donate their time, resources, and financial donations that make it all work. But in the beginning, Salthaven had no credibility whatsoever, we were just a name.” said Salt
Running a rehabilitation center isn’t always easy, and with the help of volunteers and and donators, that makes it a whole lot easier. However, there are some parts of running an animal rehabilitation center that you can’t avoid.
“Most of the cases of animals that come in are due to human impact, so this could be car strikes, cat or dog attacks and sometimes it is unfortunately malicious intent, some people harm animals on purpose. So going through that and seeing both the good and bad of human nature is tough and be able to do your job well. And euthanasia is not nice, but it’s a part of what we do. and i think we try to keep that very logical mindset of “euthanasia is sometimes the most appropriate course of action to mitigate pain” of course it’s not nice and we do a lot of evaluation before we decide that’s the best course of action for an animal.” said Brittany Leach, Manager of Salthaven’s wildlife ambassadors and raptors.
Salthaven has many animals on site that are either being taken care of and rehabilitated, trained to become an educational ambassador, or are already an ambassador, Like Astra the Great-horned Owl and Spirit, the bald eagle they have on site.
“a lot of our animals registered breeders or facilities that raise animals for the purpose of education and we start them young to get them comfortable, getting them used to being out in the public. And it depends on what we’re doing with them, sometimes our birds are free-flighted and we do that primarily on property right now but free-flighted for educational purposes as well. It takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of positive reinforcement.” said Leach.
While facing environmental uncertainty, Salthaven is staying strong and doing everything in their power to help animals in need.
