Published May 10, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 7\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
![\"Heaven's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0511-so-critters2.so_.jpg\")
Pauline Forrester, a volunteer visiting from Australia, holds a squirrel being cared for at Heaven’s Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation and Education Centre near Oil Springs. Photo by Paul Morden \/The ObserverArticle content<\/p>\n
Pauline Forrester volunteers \u201cpretty much everywhere,\u201d and recently checked an animal rescue in rural Lambton County off the list.<\/p>\n
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The 71-year-old resident of Sydney, Australia is finishing a four-week stay at Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation and Education Centre<\/a> near Oil Springs where she helped care for orphaned raccoons and squirrels.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Recommended Videos<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Now retired from \u201cnumber crunching\u201d for the life insurance industry, Forrester began volunteering at a Sydney zoo in 2000 and then in 2012 the zoo\u2019s behavioral biologist was set to travel to help out a chimpanzee sanctuary in Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was the person I worked for while I was at the zoo and she said to me, \u2018You\u2019re not doing anything are you? Want to come?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Forrester accepted the offer.<\/p>\n \u201cI discovered it was quite nice to go to other countries and find out how they do things and meet the local animals,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you want to travel and see animals, this is the ideal way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n In the years since, she has volunteered at sanctuaries on several continents, and now in Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cCanadian animals are totally different from Australian animals,\u201d Forrester said. \u201cI may have seen them in zoos, but I\u2019ve never worked with them so coming here was part of my education of all animals worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Typically, she volunteers for two or four weeks each trip, preferring the longer stay so she can learn more.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery sanctuary does it different,\u201d Forrester said. \u201cDifferent animals require different things\u201d and rules change from country to country, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just set out to do whatever is helpful,\u201d Forrester said.<\/p>\n That has included helping rehabilitate an injured sloth in Costa Rica where she also worked with a blind kinkajou, a nocturnal animal related to raccoons. She also released sea turtles in Indonesia and helped care for injured bears in southeast Asia.<\/p>\n But she also spent two weeks painting fences in Romania because that\u2019s the help that was needed, Forrester said.<\/p>\n She has travelled in Canada previously but said being a volunteer at an animal sanctuary is an entirely different experience than being a tourist.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you volunteer . . . you get to be part of it\u201d and get to \u201cknow and understand the local area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m learning a lot about the stubbornness of raccoons,\u201d Forrester said about her time at Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue, which has been spent feeding young raccoons and squirrels.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cRaccoons cause you as much grief as possible,\u201d while squirrels are happy to be fed, she said. \u201cGive me a choice, I\u2019m taking a squirrel.\u201d<\/p>\n While raccoons and squirrels may be commonplace for Canadians, Forrester said she finds them unique and interesting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in England where they have squirrels and Asia where they have squirrels, and I\u2019m always fascinated by squirrels because we don\u2019t have any,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n By coincidence, one of the squirrels Forrester has been helping care for at Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue is known as Fozzy, which is what her brother is called.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m telling you, she is amazing,\u201d Peggy Jenkins, founder of Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue, said about Forrester.<\/p>\n The centre hosts a number of volunteer interns through the spring and summer when it\u2019s busy caring for injured and orphaned animals.<\/p>\n Recently, Jenkins made a plea for donations for the coming season to help cover operating costs, including hydro, vaccines and food for animals, and cleaning supplies.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The centre located south of Oil Springs was launched in 2011 and accepts and treats injured and orphaned wildlife, including raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes, squirrels, groundhogs and turtles.<\/p>\n While licensed by the province, the centre doesn\u2019t receive government funding and relies on donations and volunteers.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we move forward, we still have ongoing operating costs, and baby season is here which means a big increase in the care, time, and resources needed for these little ones,\u201d Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue said in a statement. \u201cWe truly need your continued support to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenkins can be reached by email at peggy@heavenswildlife.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Heaven's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0511-so-critters1.so_.jpg\")
Pauline Forrester, from Sydney, Australia, has been volunteering during a four-week visit to Heaven\u2019s Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation and Education Centre near Oil Springs. Paul Morden\/The Observer Photo by Paul Morden \/The Observer<\/p>\n