Cool Girls with Tag: animal rescue

Wendy Smith

November 1, 2019 Sock Robot

Name: Wendy Smith
Age: 42
Location: Washougal, WA
Occupation: Co-Founder and Director of Odd Man Inn Animal Refuge; Writer; Registered Nurse

Like many kids who love animals, Wendy Smith dreamed of one day becoming a veterinarian. But after going to school on a military scholarship, she began her career as a nurse. After thirteen years as a high-risk labor and delivery nurse, and five years as an E.R. nurse at a trauma center, Wendy decided to take on a different type of triage. She’s now the director, vice president, medical director, volunteer and adoption coordinator, head of marketing and social media, lead copywriter, funding chairperson, and so much more at the animal refuge she co-founded, Odd Man Inn.

Considering her earlier life’s dream to become a veterinarian, she didn’t end up too far off, between working both in animal rescue and human medicine. “It turns out I would have made a terrible veterinarian because my beliefs about all beings having an equal right to their lives would have been a serious job hazard,” she says.

Through her position at Odd Man Inn, Wendy is a voice for the voiceless and a champion of all creatures great and small. “After we adopted Roswell, a dog with a bite history, we bought a piece of property to help keep him safe,” Wendy remembers. “Because we had space to take in more animals in need, and because we were investing our lives into this one dog, we chose to take in species who are often abused, neglected, and discarded.”

It was Roswell’s rescue that prompted them to develop Odd Man Inn into a full-scale animal rescue nonprofit based in the small community of Washougal, Washington.

“We are a farm animal sanctuary and adoption shelter and we rehabilitate animals who need help recovering from past lives, then we find them safe homes. It feeds my soul to nurture them and watch them return to health and happiness. We’ve now adopted out 275 animals in just three years.”

Every day Wendy and her team wake up to a goat named Herbie Berbie screaming for breakfast at 5AM, then proceed to feed 35 pigs individualized meals. After a full day of collecting produce donations, answering emails, messages, and social media comments, managing a volunteer crew, and tending to their residents, they serve 35 pig dinners and start prepping for the following day.

But it’s not the everyday tasks like these that make operating an animal shelter such a challenge; it’s trying to take in as many rescue animals as possible.

“The need for animal rescue is far greater than the number of people who are willing to take animals in and care for them,” Wendy says. “We receive dozens of messages a week asking for help with animals, and we simply cannot say yes to all of them. Our mission involves helping the animals have their voices heard while they have the luxury of our online platforms and devoted fans who are listening. We share very openly about our life here with them, which comes at the sacrifice of our own privacy. I don’t mind that so much, but I do dream of a world where we don’t have to go through such extreme measures to help animals become ambassadors for saving their own kind.”

Wendy has written several children’s books about the rescue stories of animals, and aims to publish them with all of the proceeds going to benefit the residents of Odd Man Inn. She was also a speaker at this year’s Portland VegFest, and is getting ready for SaSQUASH Art Fest, the third annual fundraiser for Odd Man Inn.

What advice does this animal advocate have for young girls out there looking to lend a hand and a heart?

“I always thought that my “job” had to be something that was also my passion. That’s not always the case. Find something you’re good at, and get paid to do that work, then use your free time to pursue things you’re passionate about, whether they pay you or not. Make your superpower your work ethic and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.”

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Keep track of the great work they’re doing at Odd Man Inn by following on Instagram and liking on Facebook.

Tracy Wiczer

June 1, 2018 Sock Robot

Name: Tracy Wiczer
Age: 31
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Occupation: Pharmacist

As a pharmacist specializing in hematology and oncology, Tracy Wiczer’s day-to-day endeavors involve helping to prolong people’s lives, and in her free time, she does the same…only for bunnies!

As a child, Tracy excelled in math and science, but also had a sweet spot for animals, even considering becoming a zoo-keeper for koalas when she grew up. But after her mother’s passing from ovarian cancer when she was only 10 years old, and her father surviving prostate cancer, Tracy knew she wanted to specialize in hematology/oncology as her career path.

“I wanted to be able to improve the lives of patients going through similar times that I experienced with my parents,” she says.

But it wasn’t an easy path. In order to specialize in the field, she needed to complete two additional years of post-graduate training. After completing her second year at The James Cancer Hospital at the Ohio State University, Tracy was offered a position. She’s now a board certified oncology pharmacist, and one of only four pharmacists at The James who specializes in lymphomas, chronic leukemias, multiple myeloma and benign hematology disorders. So what does that entail?

“I work closely with teams consisting of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, case managers and nurses to provide care for patients with blood cancers. My main role is ensuring chemotherapy orders are 100% correct and optimizing supportive care medications. Being part of this team is extremely rewarding and I love interacting with the patients to teach them about what to expect from their chemotherapy or fix any medication related problems they may be having,” she explains.

She also trains pharmacists and researches medications, she’s even had four of her research projects published, and presented one at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December 2016.

Although her job would seem to be challenging from a scientific perspective, Tracy admits that the most difficult part has nothing really to do with being a pharmacist; it’s largely a financial conundrum.

“The cost of cancer care, chemotherapy in particular, is absolutely mind boggling. Part of my job is to coordinate between the physicians, the people who help with insurance authorizations, our medication assistance department, and pharmacy/hospital administration to make sure medications are affordable for my patients,” she says.

When she’s not brainstorming how to help patients, Tracy hops back to helping her pet cause: rabbit rescue. She spends her time assisting organizations that house and help bunnies, even utilizing the “Bunderground Railroad” rescuer transport to help rabbits find homes when there is no space available anywhere in central Ohio. “I’ve had up to 13 rabbits living in my house because there was simply nowhere for them to go at the time,” she confesses.

“I adopted my first pair of rabbits when I was in college,” she recalls. “Thumper and Muncher were my first bunnies and taught me a lot about rabbits. I discovered Ohio House Rabbit Rescue (OHRR) when I was looking to adopt a rabbit after one of mine passed away. Before this point I didn’t realize that rescuing rabbits was a thing!”

Through OHRR, Tracy learned about “Buncare” volunteering, which she began doing in November of 2014. She fed and cleaned up the litter every Tuesday, and, eventually, she was invited to be a bigger part of their organization by helping catch domestic rabbits that people released into the wild when they no longer wanted to care for them.

“Personally, if you let me “free” into the wild, I would struggle to survive,” Tracy says, “So you can imagine a similar problem for a domestic rabbit!”

She has helped rescue over 60 stray rabbits since July 2016, and also assists in transporting them to vet appointments. For OHRR, Tracy also coordinates their “chillaxabun lounge” at the Midwest Bunfest convention, gives education presentations, helps with adoption events, and plays matchmaker by setting up “bunny bonding,” which is basically matchmaking for rabbits. By partnering with OHRR, the Columbus House Rabbit Society (CHRS), and the local humane society, she’s helped many fuzzy tailed friends find a place they can call home.

So what advice does this rabbit rescuer and patient proponent have for young women leaping into adulthood?

“I was definitely never one of the cool girls as I excelled in school, was a band nerd, and am not especially athletic. It’s 100% ok to be a dork!”

We agree that any dork that helps people and pets live better lives is truly a very Cool Girl!

Help end cancer & support The James: http://pelotonia.org/

A $200 donation was made to Ohio House Rabbit Rescue on behalf of Virginia. You can donate here.

Virginia Krakowiak

April 1, 2018 Sock Robot 1 Comment

Name: Virginia Krakowiak
Age: 37
Location: (Live) Camas, WA & (Work) Portland, OR
Occupation: 911 Dispatcher

While Virginia Krakowiak may not wear a cape or a mask, this 911 dispatcher and animal rescuer certainly saves the day. Between answering emergency calls and founding the pilot project On-Call Community Rescue for Animals, Virginia spends her time aiding humans and critters alike.

The path to becoming an emergency phone operator originally came about through hard labor…literally. In her twenties, Virginia worked as a farmhand, carpenter, and bartender.

“I wanted a little more job security, higher pay, and most importantly – health insurance. I come from a family of paramedics, firefighters, and nurses and when I saw the job posting it just seemed to make sense,” she explains.

The pedigree and her perseverance paid off, although she’s the first to tell you that it isn’t easy.

“I remember a ten-minute call where I gave CPR instructions to a man who came upon a multi-fatality rollover accident. He ran directly to the youngest and most traumatic of the patients and for 10 minutes did everything he could to save the life of a stranger, an 8-year-old girl. When paramedics arrived, they took over for him we said our humble goodbye. I then immediately took a 911 call from a woman who wanted police to do something because a particular grocery store was no longer accepting checks,” Virginia says. “I always think I’ve really heard it all, and I’m often reminded that I have not.”

The job requires putting her emotions to the side, and adapting from call to call. Over time at her job that she began to notice the need for a specific type of emergency response: animals in peril. It was from these animal-related calls that Virginia came up with: On-Call Community Rescue for Animals, or OCCRA. Virginia is partnering with several agencies and bureaus to develop this group that will dispatch rescue when the calls involve injured, lost, or otherwise jeopardized creatures. (Keep an eye out here for updates!)

“Basically, I wanted to help these agencies fill those gaps with a group of trained volunteers who would be available at all hours to respond to the calls that are left with no response,” she explains.

And when it comes to saving animals, Virginia’s pal Butters can attest to her talent. Butters and his brother are ducklings who found their way to her from a local feed store. Butters had been beat up by other ducklings, and his neck was weak and his leg was disfigured. She didn’t think he’d last longer than a week…but, with her care, Butters began to thrive. After six months, two casts, and loads of physical therapy, Butters is now a year old and thriving. He spends his days trying to jump on Virginia’s goats, and nibbling on all kinds of goodies like worms with her chickens.

Although her days are long and action-packed, Virginia is able to share her experiences with her Harbor Pilot Firefighter boyfriend. When she’s not working as an animal savior or 911 dispatcher, Virginia is tending to her many animals and their abodes. She’s currently trying to adopt a sheep from a local sanctuary, and adding siding to the goats’ manger.

Virginia’s biggest goal, outside of starting her non-profit OCCRA, is to focus on her work with Oregon Humane Society Technical Animal Rescue. As part of the OHSTAR team, she and other qualified members respond to high-angle rope rescue calls in Oregon and Southern Washington.

And what advice does she have to other young women looking to make their mark on the world?

“Be kind, be loving, treat people with respect and patience….try and find a way to slow down, breathe, and practice kindness.”

Words to live by! For all of her work helping animals and people, and for her tenacious dedication to bringing assistance resources to her community, we think Virginia Krakowiak is one very Cool Girl!

A $200 donation was made to Wildwood Farm Sanctuary on behalf of Virginia. You can donate here.