The Loss of a Dear Mentor | <B>Editor's Choice</B> |Axisoflogic.com

On January 21, 2010 I stood in a courtroom in Bracebridge, Ontario. I was there to answer to charges laid against my friend, Audrey Tournay, levied under the Ontario Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act.

To put that in context, Audrey had been charged with harbouring a wolf, contrary to the Act and its regulations. She did indeed have the wolf, as well as dozens of other animals - beavers, porcupines, skunks, bears, coyotes, raccoons, moose, lynx, deer, etc. - even an African lion rescued from a zoo. This is pretty much what a reasonable person would expect, given that Audrey operated Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary - the largest of its kind in Canada. The Act requires wildlife rehabilitators to provide detailed records on the animals they take in, when they are released or otherwise disposed of (i.e. relocation to another facility or death).

At the time, I was President of Aspen Valley. It seemed odd to me that the Board of Directors was not charged as well as Audrey, but who am I to second guess the government.

So some obnoxious dude from the Ministry of Natural Resources (as the department was then named) thought to make a name for himself by charging Audrey with harbouring this wolf. At that time, the wolf had been at Aspen Valley for six years and was deemed too habituated to humans to be released. So Aspen provided sanctuary to allow Luna to live out her days with others of her kind. She had always been dutifully listed on the roster provided to the Ministry, but a clerical error on the annual report at the end of 2008 failed to record her as being there. The Ministry knew she was present, and had been present for six years, but chose to levy charges against Audrey as though an honest mistake was simply impossible and unforgivable.

As I explained to the magistrate, 'Yep, your Honour, we do indeed have the wolf so we're guilty as charged', but I asked for the opportunity to explain. He begrudgingly granted that and, in the end, the only sentence was to give up the wolf to be relocated elsewhere (we were never told where, but we eventually figured out Luna ended up in a roadside zoo) and to promise we'd never do this again. The Ministry dude was not happy because he had been angling for a heavy fine.

I first met Audrey in 2004 and she turned me in to a wildlife rehabilitator. But her own story began many years before that.

Audrey Tournay - April 8, 1930 - November 29, 2019

Audrey Tournay was legendary in the wildlife community and known around the world as an expert in caring for Canada’s symbol, the beaver.

As a teacher in Parry Sound, she was approached by a Ministry of Natural Resources officer in the summer of 1971 who said, ‘You’re off until September, why don’t you take care of this?’ and then handed her a baby raccoon he had found on the roadside.

Audrey took in the animal and started trying to learn how to care for it. Reference material was scarce, so she learned through a great deal of trial and error.

Her career began as a teacher in St Catharines, Ontario but in 1969 she moved to the town of Rosseau and took up a teaching position at a high school in Parry Sound. Audrey was an art and English teacher, and she taught her students about animals and the myths that surround them. It was not unusual for Audrey to bring baby animals to her classroom because they needed regular feeding. The students, of course, learned at Audrey’s elbows that animals were not to be feared and how humans could help them, even when the problem might have been created by humans in the first place.

Audrey and Randy - early 1970s

Audrey bought and moved into the ‘Crawford Farm’ just outside Rosseau, Ontario and after the arrival of the raccoon, word soon spread that there was a woman who would help with orphaned and injured wildlife. People came from all over to bring in baby animals they had found (that they at least thought were orphaned) and sometimes injured animals. Eventually, they came from all over Ontario. In 1972, Audrey turned her home into Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. She couldn’t manage all of this herself, so she took in volunteers as well as animals.

Aspen Valley, undated photo

Aspen was – and may still be – the largest facility of its kind in Canada and it exists entirely due to the work and vision of this woman. Under Audrey’s tutelage, it has rescued and released thousands of orphaned or injured animals. She continued to take in volunteers through the years as well and today there is a whole community of ‘wildlife rehabilitators’ across the province, many of whom learned their craft as one of Audrey’s volunteers.

Aspen (and Audrey) became the ‘go to’ destination for police officers and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry staff. Their relationship with Aspen continues even though Audrey retired and moved to Parry Sound. Aspen continues on as a not-for-profit charity created by Audrey, still subsisting entirely on the goodwill of public and corporate donations.

Ever the teacher, Aspen Valley had days when the Sanctuary was open to the public so they could see firsthand what was being done. Audrey hosted numerous school outings over the years from all over Ontario and many of those students remember and greet her even today. Aspen also had a number of foreign students who came to volunteer as part of their own school curriculum. She had a large impact on their relationship with nature and the animals that surround us. And, as noted, a community of wildlife rehabilitators grew out of her example and her guidance.

Audrey also had a deep and abiding relationship with Ontario's Indigenous people, many of whom I had the privilege of meeting and working with.

When she retired from teaching school in 1982, she was able to devote all her time to her passion for wildlife.

Eventually, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) honoured Audrey at a ceremony in 2004, along with primatologist Jane Goodall, for her dedication and pioneering work with wildlife. It was about a month after that when I met Audrey myself. Eventually, I served for a period on the Aspen Valley Board of Directors.

Audrey and Jane Goodall receiving International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Animal Action Awards, 2004

When Audrey reached her 80th birthday, the local people threw a party. It was attended by hundreds of people, including local politicians, in a display of just how much Audrey has impacted her community and the people in it. Naturally, in honour of Audrey, it also produced a significant amount of donations for Aspen Valley.

As time caught up with her, Audrey eventually had to turn over the Sanctuary to other hands. She moved first into the town of Rosseau before finally relocating to Parry Sound, where her adventure in the north had begun so many years earlier.

Two Canadian icons - Audrey and Quimber, undated

To the end, we remained friends and I visited her as often as time and weather would allow - this is Canada, after all. She would say she was honoured to have had the opportunity to help wildlife. She considered it a privilege to raise and release an orphaned animal, to have been part of that creature’s life, and to be a part of the reason that animal has a second chance in nature to live its life as nature intended.

I was honoured to walk part of that journey with Audrey and I will miss her dearly.

RIP, my old friend.

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