Cheryl Budler began volunteering for Wolf several years ago. At that time she was trying to figure out how to get a job in her chosen field. She had received her BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University with a minor in Zoology and discovered that paying jobs in that field are few and far between.

Cheryl was raised in Vacaville, California and was also trained as a veterinary technician. Because of these skills and her dedication she quickly became an answer to a prayer for Wolf. She has been anxious to learn about all aspects of the sanctuary and has relieved a significant amount of the time spent by Pat making sure that all of the animals are healthy and happy.

Cheryl has a natural ability to understand and interact with each animal's individual physical and emotional needs. Her acceptance by them has made it easier for their well-being to be accommodated. Her obvious love for the animals has made her an excellent role model for new volunteers and allows them to learn both the technical side of care-taking while not forgetting the emotional needs that have to continually be considered when working with them. In fact, many of the new volunteers have their first introduction to Wolf by interacting with Cheryl to set up their schedule. She has also enhanced a series of tests to insure that volunteers are knowledgeable about the finer points of working with even the most demanding animals.

As she has become more and more involved with the operation Cheryl has learned the 'fine art' of chemical immobilization and darting along with the 'not-so fine art' of some of the bookkeeping functions. She has been involved in enclosure building, shed construction, pond restoration, road maintenance and has streamlined many of the daily routine chores.

Cheryl has eagerly been involved a number of rescue situations. She has traveled to Florida to pickup Indigo as a companion for Spirit, Arkansas to save three animals that were about to be euthanized (see Arkansas Again! - page 1) and several rescues in Colorado. In each situation her technical abilities have insured the safety of each animal and her intuitive style has lessened the trauma experienced by them.

Wolf would love to have Cheryl on staff as a full-time employee, but until funding improves that is impossible. Therefore, Cheryl continues to work in town part time in order pay her bills and then volunteers her work part time at Wolf. Like Eric Epperson, she lives on the property at Wolf and has become an integral part of fulfilling our mission. Slowly but surely we are confident that Cheryl's desires to make a career out of working with animals will be at least minimally rewarded at Wolf.