Tell the Ontario MNR that you support rehabilitation for orphaned and injured wildlife

Lynne Rowe has been working for almost 3 years to provide free wildlife rehabilitation services to the greater Ottawa region through Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge (CCWR). The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is responsible for issuing and overseeing Wildlife Custodian Authorizations. They continue to delay the processing of her application which means she cannot legally help wildlife orphans.

Here are some facts:
1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation centres receive no government funding . They are funded entirely through donations from people who value these services.
2 – Staff of the MNR are paid by Ontario Taxpayers and through fishing and hunting licenses.
3 – In June of 2011, Ms Rowe applied for an initial Wildlife Custodian Authorization to take in orphaned fawns. Because fawns bond very readily with humans, she created the fawn rehab site away from the main location of CCWR where they would have minimal exposure to people. The chosen site is 5 km away from CCWR’s main location, on a secluded 50 acre property belonging to CCWR’s veterinarian. This veterinarian is off work during the summers and so able to monitor any fawns in care.
4 – An MNR biologist followed up with this application and performed a site visit. More paperwork was completed to add to the application. No issues or concerns were expressed.
5 – To date, the MNR have not completed the processing of this application, which should take about 2 weeks (it has been 11 months)
6 – Throughout June and July of 2011, Ms Rowe received dozens of calls from people throughout Ontario desperately searching for a wildlife rehab centre that would take in orphaned wildlife. CCWR is not linked to other sites because we are not yet authorized. These people had made dozens of calls, determined to help orphaned wild animals. Ms Rowe consulted with the MNR and asked about getting a temporary license but was told there are no shortcuts. At this time, Ms Rowe still needed to complete fences around CCWR and prepare a raccoon quarantine room.
7 – Ms Rowe believes that it was better for her to take in these orphans than to leave them in the care of untrained people since she is vaccinated against rabies, has special wildlife formulas, has proper enclosures and can vaccinate the animals. She did take in wildlife orphans during the summer even though she was not yet licensed. These orphans were kept away from the public, fed special wildlife formulas and vaccinated against common diseases.
8 – In October 2011, the CCWR property was raided by the MNR and two raccoons were taken and euthanized. Ms Rowe was charged and given a court summons. 
9 –  November 2011, once Ms Rowe believed all the MNR requirements for wildlife rehabilitation were met at CCWR, she submitted another Wildlife Custodian Authorization application to include all small mammals.
10 – In December 2011, Ms Rowe received a letter from the MNR stating that my license application would not be processed until after the court case against her was settled. This letter also stated that her previous application to rehab fawns would be rolled into her second application.
11 – On January 13^th 2012, the court case against Ms Rowe was resolved. She pled guilty to keeping wildlife in captivity without a license and paid a $500 fine.
12 – From February 2012 to date, Ms Rowe has repeatedly called the MNR to inquire about the processing of her license. Each time they state that they are reviewing her application and should have something to tell her in two weeks.

To create CCWR, Ms Rowe has:
--> passed the required MNR exams for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rabies Vector Specie
--> been vaccinated against rabies
--> registered CCCWR as a charity
--> recruited 25+ volunteers
--> received over $25000 in grants
--> attended 5 days of workshops hosted by the National Wildlife Rehabilitators' Association (Feb 2011 in Albany, NY)
--> used grants and donations to create an intake office, clinic, small animal room and raccoon quarantine room
--> used grant money and donations to build 8 foot tall solid wood fences to separate the wildlife rehab property from public access, install a 6 foot tall chain-link fence around the perimeter, and build outdoor raccoon enclosures
--> purchased specialized wildlife formulas, vaccinations and medical supplies
--> applied for a Wildlife Custodian Authorization licence in July 2011 

The MNR staff knew all this when they raided CCWR. 

Why would the MNR intentionally delay processing of Ms Rowe's application?

? maybe they are concerned because Ms Rowe has broken the rules in the past by taking in wildlife without a license?

? maybe they want Ms Rowe to lose public support, credibility, ability to raise donations?

? maybe they want to use Ms Rowe's case as a message to discourage people from doing wildlife rehabilitation?

? maybe they want to discourage the public from caring about individual wildlife orphans since the MNR benefits from dealing with wildlife as resources to be harvested, culled and trapped through trapping, hunting and fishing licenses?