Lifelong animal lover offers sanctuary to many creatures

Tasha Kates / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: December 27, 2007

Fifth in a 12-part series.

PALMYRA - Mary Birkholz has an indisputable way with animals.

They perk up when she walks by, hoping she'll stick her hand through an outdoor pen to pet a dog's muzzle or lean toward a cat resting atop a cage to touch noses at the tucked-away Caring for Creatures animal sanctuary.

Birkholz, 55, has had a passion for creatures since her youth, when she used to offer to walk and play with her neighbor's dogs. She didn't have pets growing up - her father was allergic to cats and her mother "wasn't an animal person," she said.

"I always seemed to gravitate to those that were emotionally neglected," Birkholz said. "I stole food from our house to feed them."

As she grew up, Birkholz volunteered and worked with animals through SPCAs and other agencies. Her experiences with these agencies inspired her career change. Birkholz started the sanctuary in August 1988, leaving behind her previous careers as an apartment building manager and in the stock brokerage business.

"I got frustrated," Birkholz said, describing situations where potential pet owners wanted to adopt a type of pet that had been euthanized earlier. "If they just could have kept the dog for two weeks …"

At Caring for Creatures, visitors can look for the right dog and cat to take home, knowing the pets will be cared for whether or not someone adopts them. About 200 animals reside on the sanctuary's 157 acres, almost three-quarters of which are cats.

Some of them once lived together in an area home. The "Columbia rescue" happened in August 2005, when Birkholz got a call from a woman who said she could no longer care for her 85 dogs and 16 cats after her husband died. The sanctuary constructed additional outdoor pens to keep all of the dogs.

Palmyra resident Page Gifford adopted one of the dogs from the home. She has been volunteering at the sanctuary for six years, primarily because of Birkholz's attitude toward animals and people.

"She will take the dogs and work on them getting adopted and trying to fundraiser," Gifford said. "I never would have stayed with a volunteer position as long as I have with her. She cares about what she is doing."

Birkholz lives on the premises, and has a few dogs and cats of her own. But if she wants to work with more animals, all she has to do is walk outside. That has its drawbacks, but Birkholz is still dedicated to caring for the animals, said sanctuary volunteer and Palmyra resident Diana Pickral.

"There's four feet of snow, but you still have to feed the dogs and cats," Pickral said. "She's certainly been an example to me as to what a person can accomplish."

Birkholz believes caring for animals and humans are similar skills.

"If people can care for and be compassionate about another animal, then they can do it for humans," Birkholz said. "Animals teach us patience and tolerance."