Karen arrived to the sanctuary on March 3, 2020 and immediately began her rigorous two-week training period with the Animal Care Team. All Animal Care Volunteers are required to successfully complete this initial training before they can begin working with our rescues. At the end of the two weeks, volunteers are given a written test that they must pass with 100% accuracy before then taking a practical test showcasing their knowledge of the daily routines and the ability to identify all 57 rescues by name and sight.
Karen with NOLA packmember, KatrinaWe are pleased to announce that Karen passed with vibrantly flying colors! She is now in the process of meeting animals and learning how to specially care for each of them.
Karen Burkart Guillén travels to Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary from Mexico City, Mexico where she was working as the Office and Project Manager for an architecture studio. Karen graduated in 2009 from Universidad Iberoamericana with her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. Karen regularly ventured out to explore less dense areas for reprieve from city-living. For eight months, she backpacked throughout New Zealand to take a break from city life and to experience a new culture and landscape.
To her core, Karen is a nature enthusiast and animal lover. Urban life has never been her jam, and discovering how remote and rustic the lifestyle is for folks at Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, she was thrilled to send her application. Not to mention, the unique chance to work with wild canids added to her enthusiasm.
When asked why Karen chose to come out as a volunteer to Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, she responded:
“For a while, I’ve been wanting to work at an animal sanctuary. Giving something back to Mother Nature after all we do as humans. I came across Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary after a Google search on ‘wolf sanctuaries’ and didn’t think twice in applying here after reading about their long-term volunteer program and the beautiful rescues that they have.”
Fluent in English and Spanish, the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary Team is super excited to expand our resources for team members and the public alike with materials translated into Spanish. The ability to offer English and Spanish Standard Tours, as well, is fabulous! Everyone here is grateful to have Karen as a part of the team, and she definitely has snuggled in to fit extremely well!
Please join the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary Team in warmly welcoming our newest member, Karen!
Here’s what Karen has to say upon coming to the sanctuary:
“This has definitely been one of the most unique and amazing experiences of my life. (And I’m not even close to experiencing the whole thing.) The human pack and the rescues have all been very welcoming. I’m looking forward to learning more, caring for the rescues, and bringing my other skills outside of animal care to the sanctuary.”
Thanks for all what you do.