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Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital has announced that today at 5 p.m. they had to euthanize Gilbert, a fawn that the community has been fighting for this week.
When the wounded deer was brought to Rose Valley Vet this week, local vet Dr. Oz and volunteers from Warren Peace Bunny Sanctuary did their best to find a suitable home.
Gilbert suffered a badly broken leg on Tuesday morning, which would have required a prosthetic replacement or a complete amputation,
Rose Valley Vet said that despite an “uphill battle with layers of red tape” Dr. Oz chose to risk his licence to fight for the chance to save Gilbert’s life.
“The past week has been a roller coaster, doing all we can to stabilize the young deer and provide him with the best care possible while trying to find him a suitable home,” the vet clinic wrote in a Facebook post this evening.
“Unfortunately, we have exhausted all possible avenues. Our hands were tied and Gilbert has crossed the rainbow bridge.”
The clinic thanked those who tried to help them give Gilbert a second chance at life, such as the Warren Peace Bunny Sanctuary and MLA Ben Steward.
Steward granted them an extra 24 hours in hopes of finding a place where Gilbert could be kept.
Due to provincial regulations, any potential wildlife facility cannot be more than 200 kilometres from where Gilbert was found, which did not leave them many options.
“Lastly, we would like to thank everyone for your tremendous support and outpour of love. Your efforts will not be in vain. Gilbert's legacy will be our driving force as we continue to work towards laws that support the humane rehabilitation of injured wildlife or, ideally, a licensed sanctuary here in the Okanagan,” the clinic continued.
“Nobody is more heartbroken than Dr. Oz and the staff at Rose Valley. At this time we respectfully request no phone calls regarding Gilbert as we try to navigate through this loss.”
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