Dr. Moshe Oz of Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital is looking after three baby raccoons that came to him last week. He will have to make a difficult decision if permanent homes cannot be found.
Image Credit: Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital
July 06, 2016 - 4:36 PM
WEST KELOWNA – A West Kelowna veterinarian could be forced to kill the very same animals he and his staff spent the last week trying to save.
Last Monday Dr. Moshe Oz of Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital received a call from a West Kelowna resident who found three young raccoons that appeared to be abandoned on his property.
Dr. Oz told him to call B.C. Conservation Officer Service but when action wasn’t taken he offered to help out.
“They were in the process of dying,” he says. “Out in the sun, no food. They were barely moving. It might be a mistake but I could not leave them to die in the sun."
Now Dr. Oz has to not only continue to care for three raccoons he estimates are only weeks old, but has to find them a permanent home or he will have to put them down.
“I don’t want to think about that,” he says. “At least I tried to help, I guess.”
The conservation service hasn’t given him a deadline to find homes, and in the meantime Oz and his staff will continue providing medical care for them.
“They couldn’t even open their eyes, couldn’t eat or drink, they were really dehydrated,” he says. “Every two hours we feed them, we medicate them. It’s a huge amount of work but they're doing good. Really good.”
Oz asks that anyone who knows of an animal centre that would adopt the raccoons call Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital at 250-769-9109.
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