A grey seal pup is being treated for injuries after being hit by a vehicle on a Nova Scotia road last week.
The seal pup, now known as Sammy, was found on a road in Pictou County late last Wednesday by an RCMP officer. The pup was brought into Hope for Wildlife, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, after spending the night in a nearby emergency clinic.
Hope Swinimer, owner and operator of Hope for Wildlife, told CBC News that the 20-day-old seal pup has an injured pelvis and is underweight.
“The first thing we’ll do is get him rehydrated,” Swinimer said, adding that they’d hold off on feeding him right away.
“The worst thing you can do is feed an animal as soon as he arrives because food can actually overwhelm them and cause death,” she said. Instead, they started him off with some clear fluids with electrolytes, making sure to hydrate him every couple of hours.
He’s in rough shape, and Swinimer says that if he survives, he won’t be leaving the facility any time soon. They plan to keep him until he’s fully rehabilitated, which can take as long as four to five months. He needs to reach about 40 kilograms before he can be rereleased into the wild. He’s currently around 12.
But he is swimming well, and that’s key to his rehabilitation.
“He’s got to be able to find fish and eat them totally on his own,” Swinimer told CBC. “We have big pools outside so once he’s through the critical stage, we’ll get him moved out to a bigger unit where he can swim.”
Best of luck, Sammy!
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