When people think of oil spills, images come to mind of horrible catastrophes such as the BP Gulf Oil Spill or the spill in South Africa in 2000, where more than 20,000 penguins were affected and thousands of volunteers rushed from all over the world to help.

Thankfully, in Ontario we have never had to cope with an oil spill disaster of such magnitude. However, small spills do occur weekly. Industrial accidents affect hundreds of wild animals at a time, and wreak havoc on sensitive wildlife habitat. Improper disposal of toxic substances, or even cooking oil, can be fatal for wildlife.

Clean-up companies, often the first ones on site at these spills, have little or no training in how to respond to the animals affected by these terrible accidents.

Toronto Wildlife Centre is one of the only wildlife centres in Ontario with Wildlife Care staff trained in oil spill response.