Banff's Big Mountain Challenge

Do you ever sit and reflect on certain pivotal moments in your past that, unbeknownst to you at the time, would ultimately prove integrally important in shaping your future?  I do, and I’d like to share one of my favourites with you.  I can vividly recall a cold and rainy day in my childhood, more than three decades ago.  I was a first-grader in a small school in northern British Columbia, and our guest speaker for the day was a gentleman who worked in wildlife conservation.  He had brought a very large and ominous looking hawk to our classroom to share with us the importance of being kind to wild animals and to the environment.  With the impressively powerful looking raptor regarding us wisely from his leather-gloved hand, the man instilled in me more than just an appreciation for all things wild.  It was at that moment that I decided I wanted to be an animal doctor.  What a profound impact that wildlife biologist’s visit had on at least one small child that cold day in the winter of 1981! 

As a small town veterinarian, I am now actively involved in countless volunteer activities and “causes”.  One of my personal favourites is the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, an organization that is proud to provide similar outstanding education programs to school groups, corporations, and community clubs.  Educating the community, including children, about living in harmony with wild creatures not only minimizes harmful encounters between humans and wildlife, it can shape our future generations into citizens that respect wildlife, treat creatures with kindness, and aspire to become educated individuals that research, protect, and heal these valuable natural resources.

But public education is only one of the countless services performed by the AIWC.  Since 1993, the Institute has been providing outstanding medical care to Alberta’s orphaned or injured wild animals in a tiny little old church on borrowed land.  The heart of any non-profit organization, AIWC’s more than one hundred caring volunteers contribute over 20,000 unpaid hours of service per year.  These amazing volunteers serve as hard-working rescue drivers, clinic assistants, cage cleaners, and even board members.  With over 2,000 injured or orphaned wild animals requiring medical care annually, and nearly 50,000 incoming phone calls per year regarding animals in distress, these tireless wildlife ambassadors and their three volunteer veterinarians are kept busy at all hours.

AIWC proudly boasts the distinction of being accredited by the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.  This certification assures that AIWC provides the highest standards of veterinary care for its patients.  AIWC is fortunate to have prompt emergency access to three volunteer veterinarians when needed.  We vets are on-call for the Institute 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and are called into action when an injured hummingbird requires a comprehensive physical exam; when a snowy owl requires an x-ray to confirm a fractured wing; and when a porcupine requires surgery to repair a complicated wound.  From the least to the greatest, these wild creatures are treated with respectful, skilled, and gentle hands.

But now AIWC requires our help.  In order to ensure that they can continue providing care to a myriad of wild creatures in that old church on borrowed land,  AIWC has set their sights high on urgently fund-raising a total of $250,000.00 in order to construct a new, permanent, wildlife hospital and rehabilitation centre.  Like most non-profit organizations, AIWC receives little to no government funding, and depends almost exclusively on generous donations from corporate and private individuals like you and me. 

So with this knowledge I set my mind to thinking.  How can I help AIWC reach their goal and ensure that this important rehabilitation centre is able to continue providing outstanding care for our injured and orphaned wildlife?  How can I give back to a cause that so deeply influenced my career choice?  And then I saw it:  an article in a Calgary newspaper calling for an “avid hiker with a big heart.”  Quivering with excitement because I realized they had just described the two things that define me, I continued reading.  The “Big Mountain Challenge”, hosted by Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, is looking for a volunteer to scramble to the top of three epic summits in Banff National park, within one week, all for charity.

During the end of August 2012, the contest winner will be permitted to start fundraising.  Each donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, by Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, up to $5,000.00.  Upon the successful defeat of Mounts Temple (11,624’), Cascade (9,836’), and Sulphur (8,041’), the charity of the winner’s choosing will receive an additional donation from Banff & Lake Louise Tourism of $15,000.00, for a potential total of $25,000.00.  Winners are selected in part based on the number of votes they receive on the contest webpage. 

And so, I have applied to this contest with enthusiasm.  If my readers have any interest in helping to fund the future of veterinary medical care for the endless stream of wild creatures rescued by the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (or if any readers just really, really want to see me annihilate myself conquering these three towering peaks in seven days), they are invited to visit www.bllt.ca/bmc and click “vote now”.  Contest applicants were asked to state, in fewer than ten words, what they are doing to get ready for this challenge.  And so, voters can find my thumbnail photograph with the heading “I was born ready.”  Readers can vote once per day until the contest closes on July 27.

Regardless of which contestant wins this competition for his or her charity, I am so grateful to Banff & Lake Louise Tourism for such a generously thought out idea that will dramatically support a deserving non-profit foundation.  And I am endlessly thankful for organizations like AIWC that work tirelessly to inspire the public, especially our children and youth, to want to be ambassadors for wildlife.

When she isn’t hiking, biking, or volunteering, Dr. Jody McMurray practices companion animal medicine at the Cochrane Animal Clinic at 403-932-5875.  For more information on other ways that you can help fundraise or volunteer for wildlife rehabilitation, visit www.aiwc.ca. 

Dr. Jody passing a stomach tube into a dehydrated, injured golden eagle in order to give fluids.