Sally H.

As a child, I had a strong connection to animals. My family moved quite a bit, and as an only child, I relished the comfort of my pet dog and cats as companions. My love for cats expanded to the big wild cats, the beauty of lions, tigers, cheetahs, pumas, and Jaguars to name a few. I was saddened by the threat of their extinction not only by the human encroachment on their territory, but by the brutality of illegal poaching and trapping. I knew that some of these animal species would eventually exist only in zoos, and became aware of the importance of zoos in conservation work. Because of this, I became a zookeeper. I was specifically interested in the mental welfare of the animals at the zoo. Long before the word enrichment became known, I was trying to find different activities and stimulation to prevent some of the extreme boredom and neurotic behavior of captive animals. After a number of years, I got married, and stopped working to have children. Much later, as my kids grew and left the house, I decided to pursue my desire to work with wild animals again. I volunteered with a local wildlife rehabilitator who is extremely compassionate, as well as knowledgeable about caring for all North American mammals. Ive been loving working for her at her rescue, and she has since encouraged me to get my own license which I did. I’ve been working as a rehabber for 6 years now, and love caring for the orphaned or injured wild animals who come to the rescue.