A Springfield police officer is puzzled at all the attention to his recent social media post that encourages people to get help for wildlife that are injured in collisions.

Over the weekend, Constable Jesse Zillman had responded to a couple of calls for animals in distess.

This first phone call came on Saturday morning and he found the deer had been suffering for a few hours before they were notified.

"And then the next day, I had put another deer down. And through some investigation we had learned that it had been there all night," says Constable Zillman.

So, he posted the experience on social media along with a variety of options on how to prevent needless suffering for the animals.

Within three days, his informational message on the police department’s Facebook page was shared close to 2,000 times, and Constable Zillman says it has been shared in communities that are far from the region that his department serves.

He’s not quite sure why this particular post has gained so much attention.

“I’ve been wondering that. Talking to my wife about that, she figures there’s an information void.”

Constable Zillman says it’s a common occurrence for motorists to collide with wildlife, and he speculates that many people don’t know who to contact when something like this happens.

They contact MPI to handle damage claims to the vehicle, but don’t check on the animal or they don’t know who can help the animal, says Constable Zillman.

Here’s what Constable Zillman posted on November 21, 2021.

Good Morning,

This morning we dispatched a deer near Spruce and Zora roads. It appeared to have been struck by a vehicle and left suffering all night before we were made aware of it.

Yesterday morning, we dispatched a deer near PR 213 (Garven) and PR 206. It too had been struck by a vehicle and was suffering for several hours prior to us being alerted.

If you strike an animal with your vehicle, please check whether it is still alive when you leave. No shaming from us here; animal strikes happen in the country. What we don't want is to receive a call that an animal has been suffering all night because the driver didn't stop to check or want to alert anyone.

If you are concerned about checking either because the animal is a predator (such as a bear) or you are uncomfortable, please let us know where the strike occurred and we will check or ask Manitoba Conservation to check for you.

If you come across a carcass on a roadway and it's a road hazard

(in the way of traffic) that you cannot or will not move yourself, please contact us.

And now some other helpful information:

For carcass pick up on provincial roads (Highways 1, 12, 15, 59, 101 and PR 206, 207, 212, 213) call:

Manitoba Highways at 204.945.8955

(Monday to Friday business hours) or email: hocapitalregion@gov.mb.ca

For carcass pick up on municipal roads (such as Springfield, Oakwood, etc) call:

RM of Springfield Public Works at 204.444.2241 or use the handy service request form on their website (https://www.rmofspringfield.ca/p/service-requests)

For domesticated animal concerns, call:

Rural Animal Management Services - RAMS at (204) 223-5521

For wildlife concerns call:

The Manitoba Conservation Tip Line at

1-800-782-0076

OR:

Birds Hill Park Conservation Office: 204-654-6730

Beausejour Conservation Office: 204-268-6056

After getting a lot of communication about the topic, a follow-up response was added to the comments stating: Our admin staff telephoned Highways today and they provided us an email that can be used 24/7 and is allowed to be distributed to the public: hocapitalregion@gov.mb.ca

Constable Zillman says he would much sooner get called to a traffic hazzard and figure out how to move a carcass off the road than get called to a fatality because someone driving on the highway couldn't avoid the dead animal.