Rescue of trapped skunks prompts wild animal safety message in Mississauga

The recent rescue of a family of skunks in Mississauga has prompted animal services workers to remind residents to cover their window wells in order to protect wildlife.

City of Mississauga officials said a family of skunks was recently set free by animal services workers after the critters had become stuck in a window well.

“Mississauga Animal Services reminds you to cover your window wells with mesh or similar material to prevent wildlife from getting stuck,” city officials said in a post to social media on Friday.

The city also reminds people who spot any animal or animals in distress to call Mississauga Animal Services at 905-896-5858.

Animal rescue workers in Canada’s seventh-largest city comprise a response unit that’s on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Residents are urged to call the animal services phone number (and choose option 1) if they come across an animal that’s:

• visibly injured or sick
• suffering or in immediate distress
• running in traffic or in danger
• locked in a hot vehicle
• wild and bites a pet or person
• acting aggressively to people or pets

Alternatively, officials say, people should call 911 when:

• a person or pet’s life is at risk
• a person or pet has been injured in an animal attack and requires immediate medical attention
• an animal attack is putting public safety at risk
• the attacking animal is still at large and could be an immediate threat to public safety

Mississauga Animal Services workers rescued nearly 6,000 creatures in distress last year, a significant decline from a record-setting number of 7,289 in 2023.

By further comparison, animal services workers responded to 5,627 rescue calls in 2022, a record at the time, 5,594 calls in 2021 and 4,459 in 2020.

Among the thousands of rescues in 2024, City of Mississauga Animal Services says, was an incident in which an injured beaver was tended to after being hit by a car. Others involved helping a skunk after a plastic cup had become stuck on its head and freeing orphaned kittens who were trapped in “hard-to-reach places.”

City officials say increased wildlife activity, growing populations and greater urban density are contributing to the rise in emergency calls.

(Cover photo: City of Mississauga X)