On the North Island Wildlife Rescue Centre story is a link to comment on questions editor John Harding raised about the rescued bear cubs by Bryce Casavant.
I wanted to make a comment that has not appeared in the social media sites about this incident.
Casavant did not follow his senior colleagues order to shoot the bear cubs, however he did not cavalierly release them or destroy.
Instead, he captured them in order to do a more rigorous assessment of their potential habituation.
If these bears were in fact habituated and deemed to be a problem after assessment they could have been euthanized, but at least they were given the opportunity for assessment. For pausing a moment to give the situation the needed reflection, Casavant acted with utmost integrity and responsibility.
While the focus of the attention has fallen on Casavant’s suspension, why does his superior who made the call to kill the bears remain in his position without suspension pending the inquiry?
What is appalling is that without the social media attention to this situation, this employee would be released of his duties with a black mark on his employment history just for thinking that maybe a life is worth fighting for if there is the chance to make a difference.
Candace LathamSurrey