HUMANE vs. INHUMANE

We received a call a few weeks ago about a skunk.  This skunk would not allow our customers into their shed. They tried scaring it, and even when approaching it, the skunk would not leave.  As we were on our way, we confirmed the skunk was still there, but they had not seen it in a bit.  Once we arrived at the house, we started to assess the situation.  As we approached the shed, our wildlife technician, Stephen, noticed a metal contraption under the shed.  As he got closer, he realized it was moving, and it was a rusty old leg-hold trap on the skunks leg.

Leg-hold traps are illegal for any person to possess or use, except for a licensed trapper. "A leg-hold trap is described as a trap that is designed to capture, but not kill an animal.  It does this by seizing and holding it by the leg." (Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act 1997, Ontario Regulations 303/07). 

Once Stephen saw the leg-hold trap, it made an easy removal into a difficult one.  Stephen spoke to the home owners about the trap, and they were as surprised as Stephen was.  Stephen knew he needed to remove the trap from the skunk first.  The trick was not to get sprayed and to keep the animal as calm as possible. He approached with a protective cloth, covered the skunk, and proceeded to hold the skunks tail down.  With the skunk in his hand, Stephen was able to remove the trap from the skunk's leg, with very little stress to the animal.  Once the trap was removed, the skunk was placed into a humane trap to be examined.


At a quick glance, it was obvious that the skunk's front paw was broken, and it would need medical attention. Stephen completed the job and departed the property. Once the best course of action was decided upon, Stephen checked on the animal again to assess which paw it was to accurately report it to the rehabilitation centre.  Despite his best efforts, the stress of the whole ordeal was too much for the skunk and he had passed away.  What a horrible way to spend the last hours of your life.


No matter what you may think of these smelly and sometimes destructive nighttime critters, they certainly do not need to be treated with such disrespect.


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Please read the following about the leg-hold traps, and the fur trade. This is only a small portion of the information about these two topics.  But please follow the links to learn more, and get a true understanding. 


Now you also have to take into account that trapping is almost in every country around the world. In Canada alone, there are 70,000 people directly employed by the Canadian fur trade. The fur trade is regulated and licensed by the provincial and territorial governments to ensure healthy furbearer populations. There is continuing development for more humane attitudes toward animals in Canada, for the animals welfare and their humane treatment, and for the animals' interests, rights of liberation and legal protection.  With that in mind, the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals (APFA) and the Canadian Association for Humane Trapping (CAHT), have been sponsoring research on the development of more humane traps, and in advocating the withdrawal of inhumane trap, (leg-hold traps are now banned as land sets for a number of species in British Columbia and Ontario). (Fur Trapping)


"The steel-jaw leg-hold trap is most often used to trap wild animals who are killed for their fur, (bobcat, fox, beaver and mink). The trapped animals usually don't die instantly, but they are left to suffer intense pain, exposure to sever weather, predation by other animals, trauma, dehydration and starvation", (Ontario SPCA)

SICK,INJURED AND LOST WILDLIFE....WHAT TO DO????

We always get a lot of calls in regards to sick, injured or orphaned animals.  It doesn't matter what season it is, the calls come pouring in. It's nice to hear that there is still compassion for the wildlife around us.  It's not all about, "come get rid of this "nuisance" animal", or better yet, "this animal is "trespassing" on MY property". We actually get calls like this.

We have gotten calls from from we've found an injured Great Blue Heron, to we found some baby squirrels under a tree. Unfortunately at, "Back To The Wild", we are unable to help the sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. We are not equipped with the facilities or licensed to take care of the animals.  There are centres in many areas that have trained personnel and the proper facilities to take care of the animals in need.

The most recognized, accredited, and licensed facility, in this area, is the Toronto Wildlife Centre.  They have been established since 1993, and over 53, 000 wild animals have been admitted for care since their opening. The Toronto Wildlife Centre has grown to be Canada's busiest wildlife centre, and a leader in wildlife rehabilitation. The centre does have an employed staff, but the centre works and is made possible by it's volunteers. Anyone can help the Toronto Wildlife Centre, volunteers are needed to help schedule shifts to helping with pick ups of the sick, injured and orphaned animals.  The Toronto Wildlife Centre helps wildlife and the community.  They provide educational resources for the public, emergency wildlife rescue, experienced wildlife veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitation for approximately 5,000 wild patients per year.

The Toronto Wildlife Centre is one of many wildlife rehabilitation centres in Ontario. However, one needs to make be aware of who they are calling. Not just anyone can open a wildlife rehabilitation centre. They need to be authorized by the Ministry of Natural Resource, and take the Ontario Wildlife Rehabilitation Exam to become a Wildlife Custodian, as required under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997. If you do end up calling a Wildlife Centre, other than the Toronto Wildlife Centre, please do look into if they are fulled licensed.  This will ensure the animal is getting the best treatment and care.

When it comes with dealing with injured animals, ALWAYS use extreme caution when approaching the injured or sick animal. It can easily become aggressive, as a defense, it does not realize you are trying to help it out.  Along with the possible aggression, the type of disease that it could carry, may be transmitted to you or your pets. It is not uncommon in the animal world, that the mother will leave a baby behind while it goes looking for food, they do not have the luxury of a daycare centre.  If you encounter an animal that you think is an orphan, don't touch it, and observe it for the next 24 hours, at a distance.  Mom could just be out scavenging for food.  If mom does not come back after 24 hours, then do call a wildlife rehabilitation centre.

We also have to remember, that nature needs to take it's course as well.  It's not a pretty picture, when a sick, injured or orphaned animal is staring at you, and all you want to do is help it.  But at the same time, sometimes the best course of action, is to step back and watch the situation for at least 24 hours.  You would be surprised how resilient wildlife can be.

Toronto man accused of attacking raccoons to face lesser charge - what are your thoughts

Most of you would of heard about the man in Toronto that was being charged for attacking a family of raccoons with a spade in Toronto.  Well yesterday, July 13th, 2011, the charges against this man have been lessened. It looks like he could receive a $10,000 fine and up to 18 months in jail if he is convicted.

From the article in the Toronto Star

"Camille Labchuk, spokeswoman with Lawyers for Animal Welfare, said the Crown should have stuck with indictable charges.

"Animal cruelty cases should generally be pursued to the full extent of the law to provide that deterrent factor and protect human public safety . . . given the strong link between animal violence and human violence," she said.

“It sounded like a young child was being thrown around,” said Roddy Muir, who lives near Bloor St. W. and Lansdowne Ave. Muir warned his neighbour he would call police.

“I said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ” Muir recounted. “He swept his arm around and said ‘They’re destroying my garden.’”

At Back To The Wild, we practice the safe and humane removal of wildlife. This case has made us really think about what people are thinking about and the wildlife around them.  We have dealt with a lot of cases that people just want the wildlife killed, or taken far, far away. These are not the answers to solving your wildlife problem. The animals have become urban dwellers and have adapted extremely well to urban living. Taking them out of their environment strips them of everything they know and understand. Many species of wildlife are territorial. If they are moved, even a few kilometers away, consequences can occur. The new territory would be unfamiliar, food and water sources would be unknown, but also the wildlife that already live in this territory, would violently defend their area against the newcomers.

Trapping and removing individual animals from around your home will create gaps that other animals will compete to fill. You may have a warm and cozy den site for a skunk under your porch. If you trap and relocate that skunk, your porch will still continue to be a warm cozy den site for any other skunk. Research done by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has shown that the chances of survival for the relocated animals are minimal. Therefore, it has been stated under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, Ontario Regulation 665/98, section 133, it is illegal to relocate wildlife.

We do understand that problems occur with wildlife, and we can offer solutions to help you deal with the wildlife humanely while still keeping the balance between the humans and wildlife.


We would love to hear what you think about this animal cruelty case.

To read yesterday's article please go to: http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1024261--toronto-man-accused-of-attacking-raccoons-to-face-lesser-charge