I Work With Animals!

I Work With Animals: Tracker Who Finds Lost Pets

by Jeanne Sager (Subscribe to Jeanne Sager's posts): Mar 16th 2010 @ 3:00PM Filed Under: I Work With Animals!

Laura Totis

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Laura Totis

Age: 47

Title: Pet tracker and owner of LJT Pet Tracking and LJT Training

How long have you been tracking pets?
I started officially doing it back in 2002.

Describe what a pet tracker does.
For the most part we can help people find their pets just with a phone consultation or some Internet advice. Making posters, figuring out the logistics, what exactly happened with the animal missing, some personality factors that would affect what may help or hinder recovering the pet. We sometimes end up bringing in a search dog but that's just one little tool in the whole process. If we do that, then we need an article that smells like the animal so we can tell the dog what we're looking for.

Do you generally track in a suburban, city or rural setting?
Sadly, animals are lost in all kinds of settings. I've had searches in New York City, and I've had searches out in wilderness parks.

I Work With Animals! Circus Elephant Trainer

by Rebecca Quimby (Subscribe to Rebecca Quimby's posts): Feb 17th 2010 @ 1:00PM Filed Under: I Work With Animals!

Ageless Northshore

We all occasionally dream of running off to join the circus. Well, Larry Carden didn't have to dream. He was born into one! Carden took some time from his busy schedule traveling with the George Carden Circus, International (started by his father) to answer our questions about being an elephant trainer.

Name: Larry Carden

Age: 29

Job title: Elephant Trainer

What do you do?
My father owns 10 elephants. I work with all of them but when I'm on the road I work with four. I grew up around elephants and have been training them for 12 years -- as did my father before me and his father before him.

What is it like to work with elephants?
Taking care of an elephant is a 24-hour job. They are always eating and pooping, so I am always on one end or the other. They also get washed with soap and water every day, up to three times a day. Along with that, if they aren't performing I train them every day. They are just like people with their personalities and they have different moods depending on the day.

What's the best thing about your job?
I get to see the U.S and perform for thousands of people a day, Best of all, I get to spend my time with my best friends the elephants Betty, Cindy, Vicky and Bo.

Do you have any advice to aspiring elephant trainers?
To someone who wants to train elephants: Start learning all you can about them and try to get around them. The more time you spend with them, the more they get to know you. All elephant trainers start at the back and work their way to the front.

See more photos of Larry and the George Carden Circus.

I Work With Animals: Brent "The Bug Guy" Karner

by Monica Monzingo (Subscribe to Monica Monzingo's posts): Jan 27th 2010 @ 11:00AM Filed Under: I Work With Animals!

Dave Bullock/eecue.com

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Brent "The Bug Guy" Karner
Age: 39
Job: Manager of Invertebrate Living Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Tell me about what you do at the museum. It looks like a fun job!
My job title is Manager of Invertebrate Living Collections, which is a mouthful, so I just call myself "Brent the Bug Guy." For the last 20 years, I've been using my knowledge of bugs to educate the public, because I've found that while I like bugs, most people don't.

What made you want to work with animals and teach people about them?
As I got involved with museums, I realized that this is a great way to introduce people to these animals. I'm not looking to turn them into entomologists, but if I can get Joe Blow to look at the bug before he steps on it, I've done my job. I'm in the de-education business, taking generations of preconceptions, stories and myths that have created misunderstandings that have made us loathe these animals to the point where we try to separate ourselves from them; and that's something from an ecological perspective that we cannot do. We have to understand them for what they are. The usual lines about how important they are don't make a difference until people have to actually meet one up close and personal and see it won't eat their children.

I Work With Animals! Gray Wolf Trainer

by Kristen Seymour (Subscribe to Kristen Seymour's posts): Dec 29th 2009 @ 11:00AM Filed Under: Exotic Pets, I Work With Animals!

Name: Megan Glosson
Age: 27
Job title: Senior Animal Trainer

Where do you work?
I work at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

How long have you been a gray wolf trainer?
I started training wolves here at Busch Gardens in April 2005.

What does a gray wolf trainer do on a daily basis?
We provide the wolves with all of their daily care, training and management. This includes preparing the wolves' diets, cleaning their habitats, feeding them, administering any vitamins or medications they might need, training new behaviors and writing records of their daily training and health.

When Busch Gardens is open to the public, we rotate wolves in and out of a habitat where guests can see them and we present a show called "Wolves: America's Forgotten Predator" several times each day that gives our guests a closer look at one of Mother Nature's most important, yet misunderstood, family members.

Meet the Winner of the National Dog Show and Her Handler

by Rose Martelli (Subscribe to Rose Martelli's posts): Nov 26th 2009 @ 2:00PM Filed Under: Dogs, Pets News, Celebrity Pets, I Work With Animals!

Steve Donahue Photos

Sadie, the four-year-old Scottish Terrier who won it all at the National Dog Show earlier today, says she's too famous to talk to us now. But her handler, Gabriel Rangel of Rialto, Calif., was willing to indulge a few of our post-show questions.

Are you the only handler Sadie's ever had?
I've been her handler for two-and-a-half years. I'm the only handler she's had since then. She earned her championship status through another handler before me.

Besides this win, what other career highlights have you two shared?
When we won Best Terrier [i.e. Best In Group] at the Westminster Dog Show. She performed beautifully there.

When you first started handling Sadie, did you have an instant connection with her?
No, we needed to work at it. Dogs need to trust you, and they need to know what you want from them. Now, after all this time, it's a perfect understanding. I know what she wants and how she wants to do it, and she knows the same about me. There's a great connection between us. She gives me a great show every time.

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