Claire Fuqua began their journey to becoming an animal care technician by rescuing a stray kitten — taking the cat to Heartland Pet Connection in Hastings and picking up a job application in the process.
Fuqua, a wildlife biology and philosophy & religion double major from Woodland Park, Colorado, received an acceptance call the day after the interview.
Fuqua has always been an animal lover and volunteered at a zoo throughout middle and high school, where they found plenty of joy and connection with the animals.
“I needed to do something that made me feel good and something that is worthwhile,” Fuqua said.
Fuqua started working at Heartland Pet Connection in late April, making sure the animals were fed, watered and had clean spaces. Since then, they’ve taken on heavier responsibilities, such as disinfecting intake kennels and managing disease control processes.
“A lot of intakes aren’t vaccinated,” Fuqua said. “They’ve been out on the street, so the intake kennel has a special cleaning process, too.”
Fuqua has found a lot of joy at Heartland, especially in adoption counseling. They sit down with animals and potential adopters to help find the perfect match.
“It can be hard, helping adopters find an animal that fits their lifestyle, but the matchmaking is so satisfying to be a part of,” Fuqua said.
Between adoption counseling and shadowing animal behavior tests, Fuqua has learned a lot about how animals interact with each other versus how they interact with people. Fuqua appreciates classes that cover shelter practices, but notes they are quite different from hands-on experience.
Of course, working at a shelter comes with hardships. The shelter can end up with pets who’ve escaped yards due to a lack of fencing or pets who are being surrendered because they’ve grown up and don’t look like puppies or kittens anymore.
“The average person sometimes goes into the adoption process thinking a pet will be the same forever, but they change and grow up too,” Fuqua said.
Fuqua has always been an advocate for animal welfare, speaking up for the safety of pets. They openly educate about the importance of adoption alongside finding an animal that fits into a person’s lifestyle.
“A pet should meet someone’s needs,” Fuqua said, “like being a companion.”
Fuqua said that a lot of their approach to ensuring animals and people are both treated well is thanks to Dr. Dorothy Dean, a professor of religion at Hastings College.
“Sometimes my words are harsher than I intend them to be,” Fuqua admitted. “Dr. Dean has helped me learn how to talk to people respectfully, even when I disagree with their standpoints.”
Fuqua has enjoyed a lot of their religion and philosophy courses as a whole, especially being able to combine that with the scientific approach in wildlife biology.
“I love answers. Religion and philosophy courses don’t have that,” Fuqua said. “It’s a different way to think.”
Fuqua’s classes overlap more than it might seem. Wildlife biology teaches facts, psychology and an understanding of the natural world. Philosophy and religion focus on morality, the heart and the divinity of life.
Putting those majors together has helped Fuqua find joy in their job, especially when helping animals find their forever homes.
“I believe everybody should be mindful when they think about getting a pet,” Fuqua said. “Please research, understand their needs, foster if you’re unsure about adoption and make sure you have the means to take care of these precious creatures.”