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A wildlife rescue in Golden, B.C., says it can no longer take in injured or orphaned deer fawns in the Kootenay region. <\/p>\n
On June 24, Little Mittens Animal Rescue received an email from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship saying new restrictions were being added to its provincial wildlife rehabilitation permit to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease. <\/p>\n
The change means all licensed wildlife rehabilitation facilities operating under Region 4 (Kootenay) permit conditions are now restricted from accepting, transporting or rehabilitating white tailed and mule deer fawns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing we can do,\u201d said Alannah Knapp, the rescue’s executive director. \u201cWe\u2019re not allowed to touch them. Our hands are tied.\u201d <\/p>\n
Calls keep coming in<\/p>\n
Before the new restriction, the rescue could still help fawns from areas not affected by chronic wasting disease. But the new permit conditions expanded the restriction across the Kootenay wildlife region. <\/p>\n
Knapp said the rescue usually takes in between one and five fawns in a year, but likely would have had close to 10 this year if it were still allowed to admit them. <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788302173_822_default.jpg\")
Three fawns cared for by Little Mittens Animal Rescue in recent years. (Submitted by Little Mittens Animal Rescue)<\/p>\n
She said Little Mittens has continued to receive calls from people concerned about young deer, and the rescue is still hoping for clearer guidance from the province on what they should tell people to do.<\/p>\n
Those calls can be emotional, Knapp said. Some people have suggested they may stop calling and try to care for deer themselves.<\/p>\n
That worries her, she said, because members of public do not have the facilities, the quarantine procedures or the disease awareness that licensed rehabilitators rely on when caring for wild animals.<\/p>\n
“It’s not that we don’t agree [with the restriction], we’re just trying to find our solution to all of it,” Knapp said. “Because this is going to turn into kind of madness.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788302173_222_default.jpg\")
A mule deer forages for food near Dog Pound, north of Calgary, on Jan. 13, 2024. B.C. has confirmed nine cases of chronic wasting disease in deer since it was first detected. (Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Cindy Peacock, who has volunteered with Little Mittens for seven years, said the change has left volunteers in a difficult place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love animals and we\u2019re not comfortable turning any animals away that need help,\u201d Peacock said. \u201cBut at the same time, we have the responsibility for the health of the entire wild population. So those responsibilities are colliding here.\u201d <\/p>\n
What is chronic wasting disease? <\/p>\n
Chronic wasting disease, also known as CWD, is a fatal disease that affects the nervous system of cervids, including deer, elk, moose and caribou. <\/p>\n
The disease was first detected in B.C.\u2019s Kootenays in January 2024.<\/p>\n
A total of nine cases have been confirmed in B.C. since then, the province said in January<\/a>, all within the Kootenay management zone. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788302174_638_default.jpg\")
A mother deer and her fawns move down a sidewalk in Okotoks, Alta., on Aug. 23, 2011. Chronic wasting disease is spread through direct contact between animals. (Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n