Fawn's life on the line

Photo: Julie-Ann Murdoch

A West Kelowna vet hopes to save a fawn's life after it was found with a broken leg on the side of the road in the North Okanagan.

On Tuesday, a person brought the young deer to the Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital. While the BC Conservation Officer Service is concerned about the deer continuing to suffer, Dr. Moshe Oz says he'd like to try and save it – but he has to find it a home first.

“He has a fractured front leg, and we have two options. It's either to put him down, which is the practical and common decision to make, or try to do something not commonly done and try to save its life,” said Oz.

For him to legally perform the surgery, Oz says he needs to find a licensed animal sanctuary that would be willing to take the fawn for the remainder of its life.

“We are allowing some time for him to try and find a place for this deer to go if it's successfully treated, but recognizing that there's not a lot of places for this deer to go,” said Sgt. Jeff Hanratty, with the Conservation Officer Service.

“It's wildlife, it's not a pet, it's not a domestic animal. As such, the options for treatment are somewhat more limited, and one thing that we don't want to see is that animal continuing to suffer unnecessarily if at the end of the day, the animal is going to have to be put down.”

The fawn, nicknamed Gilbert, is currently medicated, but there isn't much time to find a sanctuary. Hanratty says they're working with a 48-hour time limit.

“What I need from people is some kind of connection, some kind of an idea, any lead for a licensed sanctuary for wildlife that Gilbert can call home,” Oz said.