First aid attendant, Tiffany Brown, at the Tolko Industry Vernon mill in Armstrong, helping to rescue an injured great horned owl.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Devon Roper

During a work shift at the Tolko Industries mill in Armstrong, a night crew pulled together late last week to get an injured great horned owl to safety.

Tiffany Brown and Devon Roper are employees who helped with the rescue, Sept. 24. Brown is a level three first aid attendant who was doing a night watch.

“One of the other employees pointed an owl out to us,” Brown said. “I called a hotline number for the OWL rehabilitation society and the receptionist said to put a blanket on it. We found a box to put it in. I am honoured to be able to have done that.”

Brown said an associate of the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society came by a few hours later to pick up the bird.

“It is such a loud industrial area, it wasn’t normal for the owl to be sitting there,” Brown said. “There was no way I could leave a beautiful injured creature like that. We were determined to help her.”

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Roper said the owl was sitting next to noisy machinery.

"She attempted to fly away but was clearly injured," he said. "We called the number and got her in a box. There won't be animals suffering when I'm on shift."

The bird was taken to the wildlife rehabilitation society in Delta. Martine Versteeg is a raptor care supervisor there.

"We don't know what has caused the issue," Versteeg said. "The owl does have damage to her wing and swelling further down the wing. We are treating her as well as we can with a wrap and medications. She is eating well."

Versteeg said her team is grateful for people who keep an eye out for injured wildlife and contact them for help.

"For this bird it will take a month before we can tell you if she will have a full recovery of her wing," she said. "Once she is able to fly she will be returned to the same location she was found."

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An injured owl from Vernon in the OWL Rehabilitation facility in Delta, receiving care for a broken wing.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ OWL Rehabilitation Society

The society sent a note and a picture of the owl to the rescue team.

“We would like to recognize the crew in their efforts to rescue an injured owl they found (that) suffered a fractured right wing," the note reads. "We are happy to report the owl is receiving excellent care from the OWL (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society and they report they expect it will take four to six weeks for the bones to heal and then rehab from there."

The society is a registered non-profit organization whose staff and volunteers are dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured and orphaned raptors and to educating the public on the conservation and importance of them.

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