This is the course of action my life took. For more information on careers with wildlife, check out our Career Page.
I knew that I wanted to work with animals all of my life. When in college, I took a course that would place you in volunteer work that was in the direction you wanted to focus. For me that was marine mammals.
I was placed at the Marine Mammal Center in Fort Cronkite, CA, near Sausalito. It is a rehab compound for injured and sick animals. At that time, we covered rescues for the California coast from the Oregon border all the way to Monterey. I worked there on weekends and learned volumes of information on wildlife in general, veterinary procedures, diet requirements, running a non-profit organization, etc. The Marine Mammal Center has their own website if you'd like to check it out.
From there I went to Marine World/Africa U.S.A. in Redwood City, CA (now moved to Vallejo). While working there they had recently lost an orca named Nemo. His mate, Yaka, was grieving for him. She was off her diet and wouldn't perform. They decided to get another orca to replace Nemo. They decided if they brought in a youngster it would get her mind off of her mate. I was there the morning that little Vigga arrived from off the coast of Iceland at 4:00am. After they were eventually introduced they took awhile to get along. Dr. John Lilly was there studying at Marine World. It was discovered that the two orcas "spoke" different dialects. Yaka was from the Bering Sea. I witnessed some extremely interesting study on cetatean communication. While at Marine World, Baghdad, a Bengal tigress, had a record eight cubs. The nursery was a busy place bottle-feeding and socializing these cats. That is when I decided to switch my focus onto wild felines.
Following these experiences, I associated myself with many various wild cat compounds for almost 10 years. Including breeders, rescue work, and filmwork. The majority of it was always part-time while I held a "real" job at Federal Express to survive. The animals are very expensive and therefore the work is usually low pay or volunteer work, the main motivation is for the experience.
Finally, I applied to hold my own licensing to care for unwanted cats. In California, the laws are very strict on licensing and you must have a lot of verifiable experince and a legitimate beneficial goal. They frown on private ownership (for pets), and rightly so. All of the cats that we place are usually abandoned pets. That is how Wild About Cats was born!
I still, and have since 1983, work for Fedex Express part-time. This is my bread and butter, all work for Wild About Cats is volunteer. They have a wonderful benefits package, even for part-timers. Until September 11, 2003, this included jumpseating on our own cargo aircraft. This allowed me to fly around the world to check out both the conservation projects that WAC supports, attend wildlife and zoo conferences, and check out the facilities that are applying with WAC to take in a rescued feline.
I own a longboard and keep it on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Prior to Sept. 11, I used to fly over on a Fedex cargo plane for free once a month for two or three sessions. This was my therapy and really my only two days off every month.
Since I now must interline standby to Hawaii to surf, I have gotten back into horseback riding here at home. I am on the Placer County Sheriff's Office Search And Rescue Mounted Unit. I am also on the Historical Committee for the Western States Trail Foundation. And spend several days a week conditioning and riding my wonderful horse "Spookin' Amigo" for endurance rides here in the mountains and canyons. Our main focus right now is conditioning for the "Tevis Cup", 100 Miles in One Day.
My husband was killed in a car accident in 1990, when I was only 28 years old. This was a turning point in my life, making me realize that life is short and each day must be lived like it's your last. Soon after this, I founded WAC and began a life that I believe Joseph Simas would be proud of.
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