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Sue Meech and her husband moved to Greater Napanee 35 years ago. Sue moved from Newfoundland where she was heavily involved with the humane society and along with a few people, opened a shelter in Corner Brook.
When Sue moved to the area she instantly got involved with the local organization.
She recalls one day Connie Mallory contacted her regarding some baby racoons and asked if she could care for them. Sue said at that point she had fostered so many kittens that she knew she could handle it. Initially Mallory brought 7 orphaned racoons to Sue and then the next year it was 15, and the third year, 35.
At that point she could tell there was a need for this kind of work. She said her husbands, who was a doctor at the hospital, spent all his time on their farm, building cages to house the wildlife. It just continued to grow.
Meech says there was a lady in Verona that was very well known for her bird rescue and when she became ill, Sue started to take in and care for some of her birds. She said at that point people just started coming down her driveway with boxes of everything, from chipmunks, to squirrels, and skunks and it just continued on from there.
Sue says when rabies became an issue in Ontario about 15-20 years ago, the Ministry suddenly realized that there were a lot of people that were rescuing wildlife in the province , so they started to train and license the facilities, Meech says she was grandfathered in. To this day, Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre is one of the largest, licensed wildlife rehab facilities in Eastern Ontario. Taking animals in from Ottawa, to Montreal, all the way to Toronto.
When asked what her biggest accomplishment has been with Sandy Pines, Sue says it is the fact that she has created a successful succession plan to ensure wildlife will continue to be cared for long after she is gone and her legacy will live on. To learn more about Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre visit https:// sandypineswildlife.org/.
