Communications and Projects Coordinator with the Town of Taber Meghan Brennan has received three awards for the response to the 2022 escape of ostriches from a local farm. (Photo: Town of Taber)

By Justin Goulet

Taber’s response to 2022 ostrich escape recognized with three international awards

Nov 20, 2023 | 1:52 PM

TABER, AB – The Town of Taber has announced that its response to the escape of several ostriches in November of 2022 has garnered three international awards.

On November 24, 2022, several ostriches were reported to be seen roaming streets around the community. Taber-Vauxhall RCMP said that in total, 20 ostriches had escaped from a local farm. One of the birds was hit by a vehicle and killed.

READ MORE: Police rounding up ostriches on the loose in Taber

On November 20, 2023, officials with the southern Alberta municipality said its ‘Flightless Birds for Foodbanks’ response to the situation, spearheaded by Communications and Projects Coordinator Meghan Brennan, has received international recognition.

Following the escape of the birds, the Town of Taber’s official channels recognized the efforts that went into capturing them, and marked the occasion with a donation of turkeys to the food bank in the same amount as was assumed there were escaped ostriches. The response also challenged the community to donate to their local food banks.

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In recognition, Brennan has earned a Gold Hermes Creative Award in the Media Response category, a Communitas Award for Excellence in Community Service: Making a Difference, and the Platinum MarCom Award, also in the Media Response category. All three of the awards are administered by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals.

Brennan stated that the ostrich escape response has made an impact on communications operations.

She said, “After the ostrich episode, we decided to mix things up in how we communicate with our community, seeing how the public responded so well to the humour of our response. Since November 2022, we’ve made a conscious effort to make our communications more fun and relatable, using humor and straightforward language when it fits the situation.”

Brennan added, “This way, our residents can connect with us on a friendlier level while still getting the information they need. Our citizens’ response to our funnier information posts has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re thrilled to be continuing that trend in the future, where appropriate of course.”

Her three awards are in addition to 22 she has already received as part of the Administrative Services Department since 2017.

Taber mayor Andrew Prokop congratulated Brennan and said, “The response to such a strange incident in our community was inspired and shows that Taber is willing to laugh at ourselves, regardless of the absurdity of the situation.”

Prokop continued, “This very bizarre ostrich western rodeo round up was very unique, challenging, entertaining, and involved many individuals trying to help recapture the escaped birds. Happy to also be able to participate, and donate 20 turkeys to our Taber Food Bank, turning this incident into a very positive and proactive end result.”

READ MORE: Police rounding up ostriches on the loose in Taber

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