Bonnyville might just have its very own animal whisperer.
Not only is Gayle Bunney a breeder, the author of four books on animals, the starter of a free animal advice website, but she also has been rescuing animals for about 40 years.
“It's my life's passion, it always has been,” she says.
Bunney recalls rescuing mice as a little girl. One very cold winter, she would bring freezing cold mice into the house and put them in her jewellery box to warm up, and then take them back out to the bail stacks where she found them.
“But one of my brothers opened up the jewellery box and I think seven mice or whatever jumped out. And my mother faints at the sight of a mouse. So she saw the first one and fainted and she was just coming to, and saw the next one go by and fainted. So I wasn't allowed to rescue mice anymore on threat of death,” she laughs.
Bunney has rescued everything from dogs to magpies, to a llama and a porcupine.
Years ago, Bunney rescued a wild porcupine from her father's grain chop bin where he stored salt, which porcupines are attracted to.
“Of course being a porcupine, my dad wanted to dispose of him,” she says. “I just fought for his life and finally Dad captured him and relocated him... a couple of miles way out on the prairie.”
She says she used to pet the porcupine's nose, as they don't have quills there.
Bunney pays for the costs associated with rescuing animals out of her own pocket. The animals she rescues are available for people to adopt, usually for free. But she often ends up keeping the rescued animals, as they don't fully recover and can never be adopted.
“I've got a couple of old, old dogs that were rescued many years ago that never did learn to trust people. So they could not be adopted out, they just have no faith in humans.”
Bunney walks her dogs every day, and even though she will sometimes have over 30 dogs, they are never on a leash. She says all her dogs are taught whistle commands, and will recognize different whistles and respond to them accordingly, such as a whistle to go home and a danger whistle if Bunney spots a coyote, for example. She says the daily walk is good for both her and her dogs.
Bunney started her website 10 or 11 years ago because she says there weren't many accurate free online sources for animal advice at the time.
“At that time when I started the website, I felt there was a lot of misleading and false information out there and there was just simply nowhere for people to turn... Now there is.”
With 40 years of horse experience and at least 25 years of dog experience, Bunney answers questions she gets from people all over the world on a daily basis. When she can't answer a question herself, she has volunteer animal trainers and veterinarians to turn to for help.
Bunney has been a member of the Alberta SPCA for about 30 years.
When asked if she could share one message with people about animal welfare, she said: “You can help stop the starvation, you can help stop the pain. Please report animal neglect and abuse when you see it.”