Haley Burns: Wild Life Conservation/Animal Activism Community

          

                       Haley Burns: Wild Life Conservation / Animal Activism Community

     Everybody has heard something about wild life conservation and animal activism at least once in their lifetime. You have maybe even talked about it or been a part of it before. Whether it was as small as donating money to an animal organization, going to the shelter to get an animal so it can stay of the street, or as big as giving up meat. This community is huge across the country, and its main purpose is to come together to support wild life conservation/animal activism. They also want to make a change, so life can be better for the animals. Haley has been a part of this community since the age of six. Haley has had many influences that brought her attention to this community.

            Haley explained that growing up, she seen her aunt donating large amounts of many to different organizations in this community. She thought this was very nice and awesome of her because Haley grew interest in this community and appreciated her aunt donating money. In elementary school, Haley wrote a paper on Jane Goodall. Jane Goodall is an animal activist as well. Another huge part of Haley’s childhood that introduced her to this community is Steve Irwin. Steve is a very known zoo keeper, known as “The crocodile Hunter. One thing all these people have in common is that all did something very interesting that caught Haley’s attention. For that reason, she considers them her influencers because they made her grow interest in this community as a young child. Haley has also always had love for animals. She even said herself that “She loves animals more than humans.”  She is not only just a part of this community but also brought to her home. She has two dogs, atlas and sky. Atlas is a 120-pound German Sheppard and sky is a mixed breed of wolf coyote and German Sheppard that weighs 100 pounds. Sky is one of the reasons that has made Haley work well with wild life animals because they do take a lot of work to take care of. She is currently fostering two hamsters, has two guinea pigs and fishes.    

            There are many different groups and organizations that make up this community. For example, Operation Wildlife, ASPCA, Great Plains Humane Society, and Ernie Miller Nature Center. Haley has donated a lot of her time to volunteer and help. It does not feel like work to her because she enjoys it very much. Volunteering can get very messy. It involves a lot of cleaning which means there’s a mess when volunteers arrive. It may seem gross but it’s reality that they have to clean up poop, vomit, and urine. She also gets to do non-messy things like feed the animals. Haley has gotten to work with different animals like hawks, racoons, and fish. She now has a lot of knowledge about animals. She can even give them shots, which she has done before. Another thing that she has done before that she says she absolutely hates is having to put the animals down. Haley explains that this community gets together in many other ways besides volunteering. Social Media is one of the huge places people can get together to talk. Other ways include, events, concerts, etc. Haley also is a part of this community by working at PETCO.

            Petco and other huge pet stores have been under a lot of fire because they are being accused of animal abuse. Haley enjoys her job very much and says she doesn’t see any abuse at her store. Although deep down, she knows there is people out there that do abuse the animals for no reason which she thinks it’s very awful. As an animal activist, she hopes for that to one day change and never see or hear of it happening again. She explained that as a child she was bit by a Pitbull and it never changed her love for animals. She understands that animals have feelings too and sometimes are scared so that is how they protect their selves. She believes they shouldn’t be punished for that.              

            This community is unique in many ways. Starting with it being so big. For example, there is countless of groups and organizations. It’s so big that every person has encountered it, whether they consider themselves part of the community. Haley is one person that has been very involved, put in a lot of effort, and doesn’t consider it just as a hobby. Haley hopes to make it her career to work with animals. When asked, she explained that she wants to become a zookeeper and study mammals. Mammals are her focus within this community and works very well with them. She wants this to be part of her everyday life because she wants to be part of the change to make it better for the animals.