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Opening
comments: More at the end.
Faint hope that the Dream of Roy Ivor and Bernice for a Bird
Sanctuary in Mississauga can be kept alive.
Reason being;
A). Those in Mississauga City hall actually
care about living things that don't vote for them or give money to their
election
campaigns.
B). The requirements for the Toronto
Wildlife Centre are many and expense - but do able if the
public can motivate our elected
officials.
They include;
1) - a fence with barbed wire on the top all around (can be seen in picture
below), this is sadly a must because far
too often there are those who will come in the dead of night to steal, kill,
main the animals or just vandalize
the outdoor pens. This has happened to them and in Mississauga - the
Newspaper articles are a testimony to
this fact. The City would like to just buy the land and tear down all
trace of the Roy Ivor Bird Sanctuary,
expect maybe a token plaque - forget any thought of healing wounded birds or
other animals - death to them!
I have often been told that the City buys park land for the public to use, not
to fence off. However, the
public does not have access to all land the City owns and then there is the
Credit View Bog, it is fenced off,
so that line of argument doesn't hold water, for knowledgeable taxpayers.
2) - set-up cost, after the fence there would be bring in services, maybe a road
from a dead-end street, instead of
using
the windinglane. This creates the risk of development of property along
that route, as well. Anyways,
it would cost a lot and being hat in hat in these bad time - in Mississauga, will
be a challenge for sure.
Rebuilding the outdoor pens. Most of the wood can be used and there
are very big 6 X 6 beams, even larger
cross beams, so that is a cost savings. In the past there has been lots of
large corporate sponsors and
volunteers, if enough people care others will join.
3) - this next point will not go over well with many animal lovers and it is in
regards to Mr. Ivor's or Bernice's
ideals but not a reality of the world we live in today. Consider this
fact, the wild bird hospital at the
University of Guelph has closed couple years back - even more reason for a
wildlife hospital in Mississauga,
as these treatment centres are closing. We have to consider that if not
the Toronto Wildlife Centre, then it is
likely nothing, and the animal in distress will die a painful death.
Having said that, the Toronto Wildlife
Centre has to follow Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), policy and if an
animal can't be returned to the
wild, it has to be killed, well they call it put-down. The Toronto
Wildlife people have been around for many a
year, they have proven their dedication to the welfare of those in their care
but they have to follow the rules if
they are to operate as a charity, in the open. Even Mr. Ivor &
Bernice had to end the suffering of many an
animal. They will be remembered for being far more liberal in allowing
those that could not be returned to the
wild, befriending them, creating artificial limbs for birds, etc. and letting
them live out their lives under their
care or in the care of others. Changing the MNR policy is a future battle,
which should be tried, BUT right
now lets work on saving the lives of more then would be the case if the Toronto
Wildlife Centre doesn't set-up
shop in Mississauga.
4) - as they run a hospital, the tours that often happened in the past for
school kids would not be happening.
The
Roy
Ivor - the Birdman of Mississauga & Bernice Inman-Emery - the Birdwoman of
Mississauga Web-page.
Toronto Star - Jan. 21, 2009, Wed. - pg.# A12 - Mike Funston, Staff reporter
Wildlife centre eyes new site in Mississauga
Quieter, more natural setting at old Winding Lane Bird
Sanctuary
Alison Cooper trudges through the snow to feed some of the animals at the
Toronto Wildlife Centre’s Scarborough location Jan. 20, 2009. The centre, which
cares for sick, orphaned or injured animals, including this otter,
is looking to relocate because
urban sprawl is closing in on the site.
STEVE RUSSELL PHOTOS/TORONTO STAR
The Toronto Wildlife Centre is looking for a new place to take care of sick, injured and orphaned animals as urban sprawl closes in on its present site in Scarborough.
And Mississauga just might have the ideal spot – on the site of the former Winding Lane Bird Sanctuary made famous by the late ornithologist Roy Ivor.
Centre executive director Nathalie Karvonen confirmed the facility on the edge of Rouge Park near the Toronto Zoo is now too close to housing and a private petting zoo. That wasn't the case when the centre set up there about 10 years ago.
"These are wild animals and very frightened of humans," said Karvonen of why a quieter, more natural setting on a larger site is needed.
About 6,000 birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians in distress are brought in annually. The animals are kept indoors at the Downsview Park intake centre. Once healthy enough for the outdoors, they are taken to the Rouge Park site.
A staff member checked out the Mississauga site yesterday. It will be considered further once city officials have been contacted to determine if the property is available.
The Toronto Wildlife Centre is a non-profit, charitable organization and welcomes public offers of land that might be suitable for the centre, Karvonen said. She can be reached at 416-631-0662.
About 270 species have been taken to the centre. Most are birds but there are also raccoons, rabbits, white-tailed deer, beaver, weasel, coyotes, bats, porcupines, chipmunks, squirrels, opossum, snakes, turtles, toads and frogs. They even looked after a tarantula once.
"Most people don't know about the huge diversity of wildlife that lives in the GTA or passes through during migration," she said.
The centre serves an area from the GTA to Barrie, west to Hamilton and east to Peterborough.
Known as the Birdman of Mississauga, Ivor, who died at age 99 in 1979, was internationally acclaimed for his work with birds. He created the sanctuary on several hectares of forested property off Mississauga Rd., near the University of Toronto campus.
After Ivor's death, Bernice Inman-Emery, his helper, inherited
one acre of the property and lived there while running the sanctuary.
Ill health
has prevented her from continuing and the lot is up for sale.
The remaining sanctuary lands were bought by a developer and donated to the city, which has preserved it as parkland.
It is within a broader area of parkland in the Sawmill Creek valley.
Mississauga Councillor Katie Mahoney said the city has submitted an offer to buy the Inman-Emery property and hopes to save it from development.
Mahoney is aware of the wildlife centre's interest and has requested a meeting with Mayor Hazel McCallion and staff to discuss whether the city is open to a proposal from the centre. If a request is made, "we have an obligation to take a look at it," Mahoney said.
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