April 5, 2007     Leanne Ritchie - The Canadian Press

Usually, the kind volunteers at the Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab Shelter get to heal the wings of bald eagles and feed abandoned baby porcupines found in Northwestern B.C. But after last week's snow storm, it was the shelter itself that ended up injured and in dire need of help.

The unusual storm last Wednesday dropped a foot and a half of snow on top of the shelter's rehabilitation pens and then it froze. The weight of the ice twisted steel beams and bent down the wire mesh of several shelter pens, collapsing others, said Tobbi Gjelsvik of the Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab Shelter. Repairing the damage will cost in the neighbourhood of $25,000 and is putting an added strain on Gunther and Nancy Golinia, the retired couple who for the past 17 years have dedicated all their time and money to saving injured animals in their remote corner of B.C.'s wilderness. "We are really in a bind as far as covering the cost to rebuild these pens," said Gjelsvik. "This affects the shelter's ability to take in animals and when you have pens out of commission, it puts a strain on the animals that you can take."

The Golinia's are best known for their work with eagles, however they take in all kinds of wildlife such as injured owls, deer and mink. They've even helped rehabilitate such exotics as a frigatebird, native to Mexico, that got lost in a storm and crash-landed onto a B.C. Ferry two years ago. The Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab Shelter takes in 700 animals per year and the success rate of animals released back into the wild is 80 percent.

Gunther, who is in his 70's, is known to run out at any time day or night to pick up an injured animal while Nancy stays at the shelter to carefully monitor the intravenous drips, medicine and food intake of their patients. They take in animals from the Queen Charlotte Islands east to Smithers and from the B.C. border to the Central Coast.

Their property, located on the eastern edge of Prince Rupert, is a collection of eagle pens, heated aviaries and covered barns that house their patients. Deers often graze in the grassy area in between the pens while the high pitched cry of eagles stretching their wings fill the air. Working in gum boots and flannel shirts, the couple use their decades of knowledge to look after creatures that most people only get to see on postcards.

"No one who has visited the property can deny, there is something special about the Golinias and the work that they do," Gjelsvik said. "And it helps our area for the Golinias to provide that service," he said. "But this last week has been very stressful. We are looking for any help we can get." The storm brought added tragedy, collapsing some of the pens and killing several birds, while a few others managed to get free before they were fully healed, putting their chance of survival at risk, noted Gjelsvik.

Since the storm, the couple have been working tirelessly to repair the damage, so busy that haven't even been able to notify the community about what has taken place, he said. "They are out there lugging big pieces of timber around. I keep telling them, don't do that," he said. "And it's been really stressful for the animals."

Gjelsvik said there's only so many times the shelter can ask the community for help but they are really in a bind. Anyone who can help the shelter is asked to contact Gjelsvik at tobbi@citytel.net or call him at (250) 627-1120.

Donations to the shelter's suppliers would be gratefully accepted (for charities bound by gaming fund regulations) in the form of labour or in cash.