For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared deeply about animals. I’ve spent decades speaking up for them, whether it was handing out flyers outside the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Minneapolis to raise awareness about how elephants are abused for entertainment, or protesting outside the Mall of America because Victoria’s Secret was using wood pulp from the Canadian Boreal Forest for their catalogs. I’ve even organized a boycott of Red Lobster over their connection to the Canadian seal hunts.
In 2012, my heart really found its place in wolf advocacy. I threw myself into it. I tabled events for Howling for Wolves, met with legislators, protested, marched, and even flew to Washington D.C. to help defend the Endangered Species Act. I was all in. Committed.
But in 2024, after another devastating failure to pass legislation that would permanently ban future wolf hunts in Minnesota, something shifted in me. I was tired. Tired of begging lawmakers to care. Tired of feeling like no matter how loud I screamed, it wasn’t enough. I needed to find a way to keep helping, but in a way that didn’t leave me feeling so heartbroken all the time.
That’s when I circled back to something I had done years ago, back in the '90s - wildlife rescue. I reconnected with Wildlife Rehabilitation & Release, an incredible nonprofit that helps transport injured and orphaned wild animals to rehabilitators, supports those rehabilitators, and educates the public. I signed up to volunteer again and honestly, it’s changed me.
Lately, I’ve had the joy of rescuing raccoon kits. Some of them (pictured) lost their mother after she was hit and killed by a car. Holding those tiny, scared babies and knowing I’m getting them the help they need - it’s hard to put that feeling into words. It's hope. It's healing. It’s purpose.
For so long, I felt like I was letting the wolves down every time the system failed them. But with rescue work, I get to DO something. Right now. I get to act. And I can see the result almost immediately - a life saved, a second chance given.
Helping wildlife has given me a new kind of energy. I haven’t stopped speaking up for wolves. I never will. But now I also get to be part of the hands-on work, and that’s made all the difference.
At the end of the day, I don’t believe we’re here just to live for ourselves. I think we’re meant to live for something bigger and for me, that “something” has always been the animals.
