Gilbert, a small deer with a broken front leg, must find a home at a licensed sanctuary and time is running out, according to West Kelowna’s Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital.
The staff is reaching out to the public to help find the perfect spot for Gilbert.
“We are all trying to take care of the baby,” Dr. Moshe Oz said. “We’re trying to fight the odds.”
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Dr. Oz and Dr. Noa are providing all of Gilbert’s medical needs for the old leg injury, which requires surgery.
“It cannot be repaired,” Dr. Oz said. “He can’t be in the wild like this, he cannot walk.”
Dr. Oz said there are three possible outcomes for Gilbert. They could amputate his front leg, they could construct a prosthetic or they could put him down.
“Putting him down is the easiest and most practical way to deal with the problem, which I agree with,” he said. “But only if we can try the other two first.”
Now, the doctors have until the end of the day to find a licensed sanctuary that can rehab Gilbert, Dr. Oz explained.
“Chances are small, but you know what, I’ve done more difficult things in life than this,” he said.
It can’t be anyone’s farm, it must be a licensed sanctuary—a facility that has staff with the knowledge who can take care of Gilbert for the rest of the life.
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Eyes are on a zoo in Kamloops, Dr. Oz said, as provincial rules state wild animals can’t be transferred from one region to another in order to prevent the spread of disease.
Dr. Oz spent most of Wednesday night trying to track down a sanctuary for Gilbert. However, if no one respondedto his calls by end of day Thursday, the deer would have to be euthanized.
“Chances are small, but you know what, I’ve done more difficult things in life than this,” he said.
It can’t be anyone’s farm, it must be a licenced sanctuary—a facility that has staff with the knowledge who cantake care of Gilbert for the rest of the life.
“I am putting my heart into this,” he said.
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