Wild Hearts

Every job Candy Gallant has ever had was with animals—she is a magnet for wildlife, and over the years she’s learned to care for a number of creatures. Injured raccoon? Skunk? Crow? It’s well known on Prince Edward Island that if you come across an injured animal or abandoned babies, they should be transported to Candy for care. A charitable organization with a board of directors as well as a lively transportation network have been set up to help, since Candy rarely leaves her small home—she’s always busy feeding vulnerable wildlife babies, who occupy every wall of her tiny house.

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Candy’s goal is to build a charitable wildlife rehabilitation and education organization like Hope For Wildlife in Seaforth, Nova Scotia. Since 1997, Hope for Wildlife has rescued, rehabilitated, and released over 80,000 injured and orphaned wild animals representing over 250 species. While Candy’s board works towards this mighty goal, Candy trains interns like Maryrose Carson so they can answer the call in future years.

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Candy lives a busy but simple life, and all of us can learn from her selfless dedication to the hurt animals in our midst. Not without controversy, she’s a colourful individual who applied every two years for decades for a permit from the province. Now, after more than fifty years of rehabilitating wildlife, she inspires others to pay attention to the natural world around us. And in these troubling days, we need our connection to nature more than ever.

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