Initial Service Learning Reflection

                 

                    This is me and my baby, Henry, who passed
                         away in the summer of 2015.

Hello! My name is Hannah Rice and I am from Bowling Green, Kentucky. I have spent a great deal of my life surrounded by animals. In my lifetime I have had twenty-three cats, three dogs, two hamsters, a sugar glider, a fish, and eight foster kittens. My continuous experience with animals has given me a love and respect for nature and its creatures, which is why I am extremely excited to be volunteering with Wolf Run Wildlife Refuge this semester.

These are four of my foster kittens from the Warren County Humane Society: (left to right) Ellie, Hal, Hampton, and Haley (back).

When I researched the organization and explored their website, I was surprised to see the variety of animal species living there. Wolf Run has deer, parrots, horses, bobcats, coyotes, and, of course, Wolf Hybrids. Considering I have had little to no contact with these animal species, I am looking forward to interacting with them and learning about them, as well as helping the people of Wolf Run to provide for them. I have also viewed some of the photos of other volunteers for Wolf Run and am excited to see actual volunteer-animal contact. To be able to spend time with these exotic animals and get to know them would be amazing.

Before researching my service-learning organization website, I was completely unaware of the struggle for wolf survival in an increasingly urban world. The Wolf Run website informed me that many wolf hybrids are mistaken as dogs and are unjustly kept in animal shelters, kept as domestic pets, or euthanized; I find this absolutely appalling. This continued misidentification of wolf hybrids could have serious consequences for the local ecosystem and the population of wolves, as well as wolf hybrids. I think in order to keep a balance in our natural surroundings and urban surroundings, people need to be informed on this issue.

At first glance, Wolf Run looks like a wonderful organization with promising contributions to society and animals. I hope my volunteering experience with them will be as fun and enlightening as I think it will be!