What kind of education do I need if I want a wildlife refugee?

[Jayme]

I'm 18, almost 19. I've dreamed of being a vet since I knew what it was. I don't really have a problem with blood or any of that, except the fact if I couldn't handle seeing that much death and pain. I can't always fix them. So I was thinking about going another direction with it. I was thinking a tiger sanctuary, but I love all animals, raccoons, opossums, deer, tigers, rhinos, penguins... Anything, I love them all. But ho do I get to that point? Would I just have to be rich already or something? I think the animals at the zoo don't have enough space or attention so... I'll have my own, some way, some how!

[Space Coyote]

Being a vet or running/working at a rescue facility you will ALWAYS have to deal with death and pain. It is just not something that can be avoided. Plus if you are working at a rescue facility in many cases you will be taking in abused and injured animals... so the death and pain factor will go up.

No matter how much you see or deal with it the pain and death will never go away... that is just the nature of the beast. To deal with that most try to focus more on the good. Ya so "X" animal died yesterday but a week later we had "Y" babies born. Or "X" animal died but in its death we learned through the necropsy how to prevent other animals from dying from the same thing or better ways to treat them.

Please do not think that I am saying shut up and deal with the pain and death. I am not. I just want you to understand that no matter what job you take it will always be there. How do I know... I work at a zoo and have had to deal with the good and bad.

In saying that this is the advice I have for you. If animals are your passion then go for it. However, at your age and lack of experience you are years from opening a facility. For now focus on college (zoology, biology, vet med, marine bio, natural resouces, etc) and spend some time working at a zoo or rescue facility. Through that you will be able to gain the knowledge you need as well as the experince. Many zoos offer seasonal keeper positions to college kids who are working towards a zoology or similar degree. Plus in that line of work 9 times out of 10 when you go for a full time position out of college experience is REQUIRED so you will need it anyway.

Get college and a few years of animal experience under your belt and I am sure you path will be much clearer as you become an adult. Heck you might think you want to be a vet or open a facility but after a few years you might find out that field work is your cup of tea. Ya never know.

Good luck and if you have other questions please ask.