Senior rescuer with about 100 animals in care worries about who will help P.E.I.’s wildlife next

Candy Gallant takes care of her animals at P.E.I. Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. (CTV News)

Candy Gallant has a lot of mouths to feed – beaks, to be exact.

Nearly 100 animals live in her Miscouche, P.E.I., home: falcons with folded wings, hares huddled next to baby birds and sphynx cats lounging by injured chickens.

“I’m the crazy lady with all the animals,” Gallant said, sitting on her front-porch steps.

She has been on the front lines of protecting the province’s wildlife for more than five decades, running P.E.I. Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. It’s been a labour of love, trial and error. But at 74, she is exhausted.

Eighteen-hour days of ringing phones, animal deliveries and tough triage decisions have left her worn out. She worries the animals will have nowhere to go when she is gone.

Many would likely be euthanized without her refuge.

“What happens if I die tomorrow or break my hip? There’s going to be a lot of animals who aren’t going to live. That bothers me,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Island animal clinics are stretched thin and face restrictions. For example, in 2022, the Atlantic Veterinary College stopped accepting most wild birds, unless isolation space was available, because of avian flu precautions. Provincial regulations bar raccoon rehabilitation, as well.

Gallant hopes her intern, Maryrose Carson, will one day take the reins, but Carson already balances full-time work with volunteering.

“It’s very hard to say no when people call and they have an animal in distress,” Carson said. “If we have a facility, I believe we will have more people who can help.”

A $50,000 grant from the provincial government is paying for a new outdoor cage. Gallant says it’s a huge help, but training, community awareness and more volunteers remain essential to keep the rescue running.

Despite the hardship, Gallant says she wouldn’t change a thing about the last 50 years. More animals will arrive, and her door will open.