'She was trying so hard': Alberta woman spent days seeking help for injured moose

Lorri Jankowski-Arndt had just finished lunch when a visitor showed up on her acreage, a stranger who would break her heart.

"My husband looked out the window and said, 'Wow, that's a big deer!" she said. "And I looked out the window and said, 'No,that's a young moose.' "

They soon noticed the animal was injured.

"This young moose was limping quite badly on the right ankle, just hopping along," Jankowski-Arndtsaid. "But still feeding on willow, poplar and aspen."

The moose, which she thinks wasa yearling, seemed to be in distress but was calm and docile.

Jankowski-Arndt got a better look at the wound through binoculars.

"I noticed it was quite a bad joint break from the cannon bone on the right ankle," she said. "It was bleeding at the time, so wasn't sure if it was a trap or hit by a car on the nearby secondary highway."

The couple put out some water and the animal stuck around their property, south of Sherwood Park.

The next day theycalled Fish and Wildlife and were told to continue to observe the animal and call back if its health started to decline.

"We weren't seeing that," said Jankowski-Arndt. "She was trying so hard to keep going."

Calls were made toseveral animal rehabilitation facilities, and they wereadvised to continue providing food and water. But no one was willing to send someone to check on the moose.

After several days, Jankowski-Arndt posted photos of the moose and an appeal for help on Facebook.

Another call was made to Fish and Wildlife but no one was sent to check.

"Our officers aren't able to attend to injured animals in all circumstances," said Brendan Cox, a spokesperson for Alberta Justice and Solicitor General. "In this case, the moose was close to food and water, and ourofficers hoped that would aid its recovery."

'No one came out to assess her'

Jankowski-Arndtsaid she felt helpless. She wanted someone to come and end the animal's suffering, and knew that likely would involve shooting the moose, something she wasn't willing to commit to because she believed the animal had a fighting chance.

So, she called every animal rehabilitation facility she could find.

"No one came out to assess her, which was so frustrating and upsetting to me."

One person she called was Carol Kelly, executive director of the Medicine River Wildlife Centre near Red Deer.

Kelly said she understands thatfeeling of helplessness.

"Thirty-three years ago, when I first started this, I was out to save everything too," said Kelly.

"But I've seen a lot and learned a lot, and we've come to the conclusion that if you take a big animal like that who was, when she called me, walking around and eating bushes, if you try to bring that into captivity you're going to kill it with fear."

Such situations aren't unusual, Kelly said.

"We have hundreds of these kinds of phone calls, and about 95 per cent of these are animals, if left alone in their natural habitat, will heal," she said.

That was not the case for this moose. It's health slowly declined over the 10 days it spent on the acreage.

"She was struggling and struggling to get up, and I knew I'd have to make a call the next morning to Fish and Wildlife, and I really didn't want to that," Jankowski-Arndtsaid through tears.

She found the moose dead the following day.

Based on her experience, Kelly thinks the outcome wouldn't have been different had the animal been taken in by a rehabilitation facility. She called it killing with kindness.

"They always died once we brought them in anyway," she said. "It's just that it was prolonged agony, and also the last hours of their life are in fear."

'The quickest and kindest way'

According to Kelly, euthanizing the moose with drugs was not a good option.

"As violent as shooting may seem, it is the quickest and the kindest way to do it," said Kelly. "And we have to remember that this is a wild animal, this is not your pet dog. Animals in the wild are eaten by other animals every day."

Jankowski-Arndtcomes from a farming background, and said she knows sometimes tough decisions need to be made with animals.

"When we'd hear a gunshot go off on our farm, it was sometimes because, and often because, an animal needed to be put down," she said. "But I think there needs to be certain allowances for special cases."

She thinks more could have beendone in this case.

"What else can you do when the agencies out there seemingly have nothing to offer by way of help?" shesaid. "So the only thing I can think of at this point, is trying to help these agencies in some way."

Fish and Wildlife receives many calls with concerns about injured wildlife but the officers have other priorities, Cox said.

"Their primary duties are to enforce conservation laws and hunting and fishing regulations, and to investigate that sort of crime," said Cox. "As well as responding to abuse of the public land and to incidents where there is an animal that is causing a risk to public safety."

He agreed with Kelly that the best option is to leave the animal alone and hope it heals.

"It is certainly sad that this moose has died, we understand that it was also difficult for the property owner," said Cox. "Our officers often do get numerous calls of deer, moose and other wildlife with injured legs.

"In many cases, the animals can recover naturally and live healthy lives on three legs. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case in this incident."