The Story of Spirit

Injured Spirit on Arrival		Spirit Today

One cold day in February 2007 a van pulled up to our front door, the side door slid open and to our surprise a live Golden Eagle was sitting in the back seat just like a passenger! A brave lady had found this injured eagle along a road, and brought him to us for help.

The eagle’s head was swollen so much his right eye was swollen shut. We thought for sure it had been hit head-on by a car. To find out more about his condition we rushed our patient to veterinarian Dr. Jacob Adserballe of Uplands Pet Hospital in Lethbridge for an examination.

After taking an x-ray Dr. Jacob had some startling news. The eagle had been shot! A gun shot pellet went through his eye and was lodged in the back of his head, two more pellets were in his chest.

Dr. Adserballe informed us it would be too risky to remove the pellets. Although the eagle might live, damage to his eyesight would unfortunately prevent him from returning back to the wild. Over the months we learned the eagle was close to complete blindness. Now it was up to us and our supporters to care for this eagle for the rest of his life.

Although virtually blind, gradually we earned the eagle’s trust teaching him to eat after we gently touched his beak with morsels of food. Because of this eagle’s amazing will to live and at the urging of some imaginative school children we decided to name him “Spirit”.

Spirit is a very special eagle and perhaps sharing his story can help save the lives of other eagles and birds of prey in the wild. Spirit and other birds in our care need your help. Anyone who makes a $50.00 donation to help spirit will receive a:

• a special sponsorship certificate including a colour photo of this brave, majestic bird.
• A guest pass to visit the centre and meet spirit in person.
• A charitable tax receipt

Click here to help support Spirit.

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