Critter Care, the wildlife rehabilitation centre where three bear cubs rescued from a dumpster in Coquitlam were sent last week, is the only organization of its kind in Metro Vancouver -- yet it receives no government funding.
The centre takes in more than a thousand orphaned or injured wild animals a year, and that number is climbing. Critter Care relies solely on private donations, occasional grants and fundraisers to run the centre, which rehabilitates orphaned and injured bears, otters, beavers and other wild animals in need.
Critter Care staff say without centres like theirs newly found bear cubs wouldn't have a place to go and may have to be put down.
"They would have to be put down because there would be no other place that could take them and they wouldn't survive on their own," said animal care specialist Angela Fontana.
The three cubs rescued last week will spend a year at Critter Care before they are released back into the wild. The mother of the cubs had to be euthanized.
About 600 bears are destroyed in B.C. annually, and seven have been killed so far this year in Coquitlam alone.
Conservation officers could take the bears to one of B.C.'s other centres in Parksville or Smithers, but that would be costly.
It costs around $625 thousand a year to run Critter Care. Funding used to come from government gaming grants until they were cut a couple years ago.
Premier Christy Clark announced in July that the B.C. government would restore some previously cut grants, but which groups will get the money hasn't been decided.
For now, Critter Care says they have enough funding to give excellent care to all the animals in the facility and hope that generous support from the public continues.
Visit Critter Care's website to donate.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's St.John Alexander
