Meghan Huntley

Sanctuary Shift Lead

For Meghan Huntley, joining Carolina Waterfowl Rescue turned out to be much more than finding a place to volunteer—it was discovering work that felt like where she was supposed to be all along.

Meghan began volunteering with CWR in October 2025 and joined the staff in April 2026. Today, as a Sanctuary Shift Lead, she helps coordinate the people and daily work required to care for the many animals who call CWR home.

Her responsibilities include organizing and managing volunteer schedules, training new volunteers, coordinating farmhand duties, preparing fresh salads and meals, and making sure animals are fed, watered, housed in clean environments, and carefully observed. Like many members of the CWR team, Meghan's job description only tells part of the story. She also volunteers for events when she can and has participated in educational outreach programs.

Meghan describes herself as “equal opportunity” when it comes to the animals at CWR—she genuinely loves them all. But Canada geese hold a particularly special place in her heart. She appreciates their beauty, intelligence, and individual personalities and wishes more people understood the animals behind their often-negative reputation.

Then there are the Ancona ducks. And the emus. And the donkeys. And the sheep and goats. And the snakes.

Meghan admits that choosing favorites quickly becomes difficult.

She does, however, have a particular affection for animals with a little attitude. Give her a sassy rooster or a spicy goose, and chances are she'll find some extra time in her day to make friends.

Meghan's path to animal care was not a traditional one. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and a minor in English Literature. She spent many years working professionally in writing and communications, developing experience in areas including external client communications, speechwriting, video scripts, and training materials. She is also a member of the Public Relations Society of America.

Creativity has remained an important part of Meghan's life as well. After years in corporate communications, she spent time working as an artist. Eventually, however, she found herself searching for something different—work that provided a stronger sense of purpose and allowed her lifelong love of animals to become a bigger part of her life.

She found CWR.

Although her professional career initially took her into communications, animals had been part of Meghan's world for as long as she can remember. She jokes that as a child she had little interest in baby dolls; she wanted stuffed animals instead.

As a teenager, she began horseback riding and volunteered with the humane society while in high school. Her animal experience eventually extended well beyond traditional companion animals.

While living for a year in Bristol, England, Meghan volunteered with Bristol Zoo Gardens. Her role was primarily educational, giving talks to visitors about animals ranging from boa constrictors and bearded dragons to tarantulas, giant hissing cockroaches, and stick insects.

She also volunteered with Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro and completed a college photojournalism project about the organization.

Since joining CWR, Meghan has continued building her wildlife knowledge and successfully completed the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council's Foundations of Wildlife Rehabilitation course.

Her professional communications background has also proven valuable in an environment where education, teamwork, training, and communication are essential. But one of the things Meghan appreciates most about CWR has less to do with any particular credential.

It's the team.

She is proud to wear her CWR gear in public and represent an organization she believes has earned an excellent reputation in the community. Behind that reputation, she sees firsthand the extraordinary amount of work that goes into caring for every animal.

She is equally proud of the culture among her coworkers. Meghan describes a team where people step in when something needs to be done, wear multiple hats, and support one another rather than competing with each other. Whatever the job requires, the animals come first.

That sense of shared purpose is one of the reasons Meghan is so happy to be part of CWR.

She also values the opportunity to know the animals as individuals rather than simply as species. To Meghan, each has its own personality, preferences, relationships, quirks, and opinions. Being welcomed into their world and entrusted with their care is something she considers a privilege.

At home, Meghan shares her life with her dog, Dolly, whom she describes as the light of her life. Dolly remains endlessly intrigued by the assortment of animal smells Meghan brings home after a day at the rescue.

Foxes have also been a longtime favorite—Meghan even has a fox tattoo—but CWR's Canada geese have firmly established themselves among the animals closest to her heart.

Away from the rescue, Meghan enjoys painting, cooking and experimenting with new recipes. She's an enthusiastic UNC and Carolina Panthers fan and an avid traveler. Her favorite journey so far was a trip to Kenya, an experience she says changed her life. She hopes to return someday and dreams of having the opportunity to work with an animal sanctuary there.

She is also fascinated by space and readily admits to knowing far more random space facts than anyone probably expects from CWR's Sanctuary Shift Lead.

For Meghan, however, the most surprising discovery has been how naturally she took to the physical realities of sanctuary work.

Manual labor, working outside in difficult weather, getting dirty, and dealing with all of the decidedly unglamorous parts of animal care weren't things she once imagined herself enjoying. Instead, she discovered that she loves them.

Even on the hard, stressful, or sad days that inevitably come with rescue work, being at CWR gives Meghan a sense of joy and contentment.

She is excited to come to work.

And whether the day involves coordinating volunteers, preparing food, cleaning enclosures, educating the public, caring for a beloved resident—or spending a little extra time winning over a particularly opinionated goose—Meghan knows she's helping animals.

For her, that makes it exactly where she wants to be.