Thank you thank you thank you!
Because one ‘thank you’ just doesn’t seem like enough. Bam Bam, quite possibly the most loved deer of all time (at least in the Ottawa valley!) is going home! Retired Greely couple Bruce and Christina Straby raised Bam Bam after finding her abandoned as a newborn fawn two years ago. Bam Bam had an idyllic life amongst other farm animals and became a beloved pet. Three weeks ago the Ministry of Natural Resources captured Bam Bam and brought her to a zoo. The Strabys were extremely distraught – they contacted the media – word got out and a petition was set up to bring Bam Bam home. 12,000 people signed it. On Friday December 22nd, Premier Dalton McGuinty arrived on the Strabys’ doorstep to deliver the news in person: Bam Bam was indeed going to be re-united with her ‘family’. It was an honest-to-goodness-feel-good Christmas story with a happy ending. Lots of hugs, tears of joy, complete strangers were brought together that afternoon with one common bond: never under-estimate the power of compassion. Thank you to Mr McGuinty for doing the right thing. Behind the scenes, there was a team of people who never gave up: thank you to the Ottawa Sun’s Nelly Elayoubi, Kelly Egan from the Citizen, Nepean Carleton MPP Lisa McLeod for her persistence at Queen’s Park (and for hand delivering the petition to the Premier’s Ottawa office!), lawyer Vicki Eatrides who hopped on board on ‘day 1’ and gave so much of her time and expertise to this story (and getting everyone she knew to write a letter… Vicki is my new best friend that I’ve never met), Lawrence Greenspon for his take-charge guidance, Tim Tierney for creating the petition website, and of course, thank you to the 12000 PEOPLE WHO SIGNED THE PETITION! Happy New Year, Bruce and Christina, and your little doe Bam Bam.
