FINANCE
- Billie Hatton presented the GROWLS Statement of Receipts & Disbursements and the Balance Sheet (both for the Year ending on 31 January 2008). Hard copies, if required, are available from Liz. Suffice to say, GROWLS has it’s head above water (financially). Thanks to Billie, things are going swimmingly.
- It was noted that although GROWLS normally remunerates drivers who transport animals off-island, rescuers on-island often consume many litres of gas during a rescue. Rescuers should not be potentially discouraged from - nor disadvantaged by – costly rescues. Hence, if rescuers are significantly out-of-pocket during the process of conducting a rescue, advise Liz for possible recompense.
OLD BUSINESS
- Expect a final version of the GROWLS Waiver by next meeting;
Our rescued Barred Owl (of 27 October last fall) is ready for release within the fortnight. Bill Kalbfleisch will coordinate the time/place/players in this release and an e-mail notification will be sent to GROWLS members;- We are closer to hiring a student for the summer to perform various duties (e.g. pager, rescue, public lectures, etc.). Dar will fine-tune her research to ensure that various legalities (e.g. UIC, taxation, work insurance, domicile, etc) are covered. Two avenues of outside grants appear to be viable in order to alleviate the costs to GROWLS. This student will require a to-be-determined monitoring period with a designated mentor(s) prior to assuming full duties;
- Sufficient volunteers have been found to enable the Eagle Monitoring program to continue. An upcoming meeting for all concerned will be called by Dar;
- The GROWLS Web Site will be built at “http://www.growls.ca/” in the near future. A local, anonymous donor has pledged $1500 to enable the building and maintenance of this Web site and increase our “community capacity building”. Construction of the site will be a collaborative event, with Dar Mace being the Point Of Contact (POC) for Web site ideas, layout suggestions, photo collection, etc. Shirley Highfill’s son, Mark Hendricks, volunteered to help us with website design;
- Eagle Mascot: off-island taxidermy could be cost-prohibitive. Larry Williams will investigate a local source for possible accomplishment;
NEW BUSINESS
- Rescue Kit Inspection will be held in the near future to replenish and standardize our kits before the upcoming active seasons. Liz will coordinate a time/place for all concerned. 2 new plasticized protocols (raccoon and heron) for kits were handed-out at the meeting;
- Frog/Pond Monitoring: A government biologist will present a talk on 18 April concerning frogs, bullfrogs and pond monitoring. Dar Mace is POC for this event. We will compile a list of potential frog ponds prior to this talk so, if you have one or know of someone who would like their pond involved please contact Dar;
- An opportunity to undertake training by DFO has presented itself. Selected Gabriola GROWLS personnel will be taught various skills (e.g. how to take blood samples) to assist DFO in data collection of expired animals;
- A historical newspaper advertisement pertaining to the upcoming nesting season will be re-cycled by Jean Wyenberg and submitted to the island newspapers for publication;
- Research continues in acquiring suitable spray bottles for homeopathic solutions inclusion in rescue kits;
- The Gabriola Rod, Gun & Conservation Club has invited GROWLS (and other island entities) to participate in a round-table discussion about off-leash and deer-chasing canines. This meeting will be held at the Gun Club on Tuesday, 11 March at 7:00 p.m. Dar Mace & Sheila Lake will attend as GROWLS spokespersons. All interested GROWLS members are invited;
- An opportunity to visit Entrance Island to experience their animal environment has arisen. Liz will coordinate the event;
- Members are reminded of Ethan Smith’s slide-show and discussion (titled “Building An Ark - 101 Solutions to Animal Suffering”) on Sunday, 24 February in the Community Hall (south end), starting at 1:00 p.m. (free admission); and
- CASE STUDIES: the below chart depicts GROWLS’ events since our last meeting:
| Wildlife | Lived | Died | Unk | Comments |
| Fawn | 1 | Dead on caller\'s
property |
||
| Deer | 1 | 2 | 1
dead - hit by car; 1 foaming at mouth but recovered; 1 dead on caller\'s property |
|
| Dog | 1 | Lost - found by
second caller |
||
| Cat | 1 | hit by car and lost -
referred to Pet Find |
||
| Bird | 2 | 1
Songbird flew into window and survived; 1 Flicker found by road and survived |
||
| Sea Lion | 1 | 1 | Found
alive but very ill on rocks in Drumbeg Park. Reported to DFO but did not survive |
This meeting ended at 2107L hrs. The next Monthly Meeting of GROWLS will be Wednesday, 19 March @ 1930L hrs and held (as usual) at the Rollo Seniors Centre.
Sheila (& Bob) Lake
247-8886
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