Learning empathy through caring for animals

November 5, 2024

What do grizzly bears, sea otters, and rhinos have in common? Not a lot at first glance, but thanks to a summer internship with the Detroit Zoo, Dylan Cardinale ’25 found a special affinity with individuals from those different species.

Grizzly bear Thor “is very human-motivated and curious to look at people and investigate,” the Grosse Pointe Woods senior said. “Feeding Finn the sea otter was my favorite part of the day because he was the most timid, so I loved to see when he would express his personality. And when the rhinos would roll in their wallows they just looked like big puppies. They are also so sweet and love to get scratches and pats.”

A biology major with an eye towards veterinary school, Cardinale worked with dozens of animal species (and their keepers) over the summer, gaining knowledge  about everything from penguins to camels to gorillas. The internship “rotations” included time spent in the zoo kitchen and, of course, a lot of poop-scooping. 

“I definitely did not think that I would enjoy picking up animal poop and I can confirm that I still do not,” Cardinale said.

Along with observing and admiring the animals’ displays of intelligence and curiosity, Cardinale gained a high degree of sensitivity for seeing bad days, especially related to the care of older animals.

“We may ask whether they are moving around or lying down, or having trouble standing up or eating,” Cardinale said. “Each day a log is made into our keeper notebook that depicts the behaviors for the day, how much of their food they ate, their attitude, etc. That is a key factor in how we can see if animals are having off days because their behaviors may not align.” 

Seeing animals have bad days was a rough part of the experience. “They cannot verbally communicate how they feel so it takes a lot of knowledge to know the animal and know what plan and care is the best for them,” Cardinale said. That lesson, she said, “has helped me be more attentive to details and behavior and has also made me emotionally stronger and more resilient.” 

Cardinale cites many ways that Albion helped prepare her for a successful internship, including knowledge gained from physiology and microbiology classes, the team-focused effort of playing softball, and even the confidence-building of Greek life that helped her work respectfully with dangerous animals. 

“Albion holds their students to a high standard and gives them resources to succeed,” she said.

In the end, Cardinale noted a big lesson about animals that don’t live at the zoo. “Humans spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves, but when you have animals depending on you, you want to do your best to make their life as great as possible,” she said. “Before this internship, I wasn’t thinking about being a zoo veterinarian, but now, I think I could do that.”

Dylan Cardinale is a senior majoring in biology with a minor in communication studies and is a member of the Wilson Institute for Medicine. Cardinale is a member of the softball team and Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She is a SAAC representative for the softball team along with being an FYE mentor and working as a sports information assistant. She is the daughter of Louis and Paula Cardinale of Grosse Pointe Woods and is a graduate of Grosse Pointe North High School.