Wildlife Released Back Into the Water After Rehab Following Husky Events

For up to 72 hours, the birds went through a conditioning process, which allows them to be released back into the wild

GORDON, Wis. – The impact of the Husky incident in April reached many lives including wildlife.

Some of these animals are finally free and back in the water after a serious recovery process.

What started off as a typical day for Sean Haasnoot took a different turn and sent him on a goose chase.

“We noticed one at first, it was all shiny and then as we went out to see more, we saw two more,” said Haasnoot.

It was about 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning when he and a few co–workers spotted the birds near Barker’s Island.

“Can’t just leave them there and we notice it couldn’t fly,” said Haasnoot. “It was just kind of trying to get him help.”

The crew decided to take matters into their own hands and try to catch the birds and lead them to safety.

“We ended up coming up with a plan to catch them, put a towel or blanket around them, put them in a box, cut a couple holes in them to catch them,” said Haasnoot

It took about 20 minutes to catch the first bird.

“There’s a creek that runs kind of down the refinery and think they might’ve come down that way,” Haasnoot.

Husky Energy contacted “Focus Wildlife” to assess and deal with any wildlife impacts that occurred after April’s fire and explosion.

“Any animal that comes through we take information to assure that it is from this incident,” said Focus Wildlife Owner Lana Battaglia.

Almost two weeks ago Focus Wildlife recovered one Canada goose and two Mallard ducks.

“We spent 24–48 hours medically stabilizing them, so that they’re strong enough to get through the remainder of the rehabilitation process,” said Battaglia.

Wildlife experts say they were covered in oil.

“We go through the decontamination process, which is removing the product from their feathers and that’s a washing and rinsing process,” said Battaglia.

Focus Wildlife staff say since the birds can stand on land and with these temperatures; it helped increase their window of opportunity for a longer life.

“Good condition, because we were able to retrieve them from the field so quickly,” said Battaglia.

The birds went back to their natural habitat and were released at the Douglas County Wildlife Area into a safe and clean environment.

Hazing programs and lasers are in place to deter the wildlife from the area near husky and out of harm’s way.