Wildlife charities need your support!

Recently I had the opportunity to visit two wildlife charities on opposite ends of the country.  Both participated in Jamieson Vitamin's Call for the Wild campaign to distribute $100,000 to wildlife charities across Canada, thus both held their open house to drum up support for their cause.  While the voting for the contest is now closed, it's important to acknowledge their amazing efforts year round.

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Center is quietly tucked away among the shipping yards of Coal Harbour in Vancouver.  I've noticed that some organizations here that deal with rescued animals typically prefer to keep a low profile, lest the vocal anti-captivity protesters both harass the volunteer staff and stress the recovering animals, thus the rescue center itself is a working facility that does not entertain visitors - save for its invitation-only open house.  Most of the patients there are orphaned harbour seal pups, whose stay average two months till they are nursed up to weight and display an ability to catch their own fish.  Feeding was quite a noisy trial as seal pups don't take an artificial teat and are fed a deliciously viscous paste of formula and fish oil pumped through a tube and syringe, and it takes two volunteers to administer this.  This year was a 'quieter' year, as they had only 45 down from the approx 150 that came through their doors last year.  After meeting each pup, we decided to sponsor a little lady named Sunflower (this year they were named after astronomical bodies) who was very chatty and decidedly the most engaging.  If you've never heard a seal bark, they sound a bit like E.T. and I could've sworn she was trying to mimic our 'hello'... The staff were helpful in answering questions, and we finished with complimentary ice cream with sprinkles! 

Far from low profile is Hope For Wildlife in Seaforth, Nova Scotia - indeed they have their own tv show shown in several channels and countries, as well as allow tours upon email request including group presentations and birthday parties.  This open house was like a community block party, with other guests bringing their animals to showcase and educate the masses - this year we saw the police K9 unit, a woman with her pet pygmy goats, a 'pirate' and her parrot, and a zoo worker with an alligator.  Do not pet the alligator.  Saw the resident mascots Oliver the one-eyed owl and Maxwell the three-legged skunk.  Hope for Wildlife has fantastic facilities that keep growing, including a space for deer (closed to public, as the young imprint too easily), a flight cage for raptors, a nursery, and a new marine pool holding two seals as of August - as well as the gazebo hosting music acts, the learning center and gift shop for humans.  Been there, done that, got the T-shirt; it was pointed out to me that when worn with an open zip-up sweater the breast logo reads "HO FOR WILD", which was a laugh but I'd gladly advertise on my body.  We bought our $3 hamburgers for lunch to support the cause and enjoyed the free cotton candy and Timbits+coffee, browsed the bake sale goodies, silent auction goods and animal-themed artwork on display.  I could spend hours there just reading every sign, well done!