Volunteer Trish Dobransky shows off Houdini, a great horned owl, who is an education bird and an ambassador for SORCO’s outreach programs. Vandals poisoned and killed that rats that are fed to the raptors. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Why?
That’s what volunteers at the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls (SORCO) are asking in the wake of a disturbing case of vandalism recently.
Manager Dale Belvedere reported that someone broke into the centre on June 6 or 7 and poisoned rats used to feed their birds of prey.
“We have no idea why. We have all been banging our heads against the wall as to why.”
The culprit forced open the front gate and entered the food centre where rats are raised as live food for the raptors. Two days later most of the rats were found dead.
Belvedere said a pathology test confirmed that the rats died from a poisonous substance.
Belvedere explained that SORCO uses a variety of foods depending on the particular needs of the recovering bird.
However, rats are the primary food source. Before a raptor can be released back into the wild, they need to demonstrate their ability to hunt for live prey, she pointed out.
“It’s devastating that someone violated our premises. Poisoning the food source for the birds in our care is a despicable act of cruelty.”
None of the birds were injured, but Belvedere said their mascot “Houdini” exhibited some side effects that may have been the result of eating one of the poisoned rats.
The manager said SORCO has not been vandalized in 27 years.
“This is affecting us all personally,” she stated.
She also noted that the financial loss of losing all their food is significant; they had to spend $600 to replace the rats (about 170).
“This is going to hurt us for months to come.”
Belvedere reiterated that the vandalism is very perplexing, particularly because the culprit targeted the rats as opposed to stealing anything from the main clinic.
“Why did you do something so cruel, and why did you go out and hurt SORCO? That’s what bothers us.”
As a result of the incident, SORCO is reviewing its security procedures.
Belvedere is hoping that someone will come forward with a lead to help the RCMP in the investigation.
Anyone having information should call the Oliver RCMP at 250-498-3422.
LYONEL DOHERTY
Special to the Times
