Dorothy Kaufmann, who saved thousands of animals at wildlife sanctuary, dies at 62

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify details of Dorothy Kaufmann's life.

Dorothy Kaufmann, longtime director of the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida at 105 North S. St in Pensacola, was a force to be reckoned with when it came to advocating for wildlife.

She gently sang the secret tune used to communicate with owls one moment, then fiercely stood before Pensacola’s City Council the next to advocate for electric fencing after a pack of dogs broke into the Sanctuary and killed its deer.

The more time she spent at the Sanctuary, the more volunteers she wanted to recruit and care for, the more structural improvements she wanted to make, the more animals she wanted to take into the shelter and her home.

Her two “homes” were interchangeable — she had a favorite white leather chair to lounge in for late nights at the Sanctuary, and a second freezer filled with carrion in her actual home to feed the animals she fostered in her house.

Her husband, John, was a good sport — even when a crow she took in tricked him into thinking she was calling him in the house, when really, it was just mimicking the way Kaufmann said his name.

“This (the Sanctuary) is a ‘first family,’ not a second family, because sometimes the lines blurred,” Kaufmann’s sister, volunteer and board member Frances Webb said.

It was on more than one occasion that Kaufmann would excuse herself from a party to feed a batch of baby squirrels in her car.

Thousands upon thousands of animals pulled off the side of freeways and fallen out of nests later, Kaufmann served 29 years at the Sanctuary before unexpectedly passing away this week at the age of 62.

“She had one dream after another,” Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida volunteer Diane Wahlquist said. “She was always looking at how to do things better.”

Kaufmann was ‘reeled in’ as a volunteer in 1994

Webb will tell you that Kaufmann had an innate “need to nurture” that was visible through every cat or dog on the side of the road, or in her desire to be a mother, even though she never had children of her own.

She manifested her love and energy into feeding baby skunks, rehabbing birds to fly and writing hand-written thank you letters to her wildlife sanctuary family. One volunteer received a signature Dorothy note only two weeks ago.

Kaufmann showed up at the Sanctuary for the first time in 1994 after it caught fire, devastating the facility, but she felt a larger sense of purpose beyond a quick clean-up.

“She (Dorothy) said it was kind of like a fishing pole — they reeled her in,” Webb said.

As she rose up in leadership, she led by example. Even now, the Sanctuary’s staff clock-out for the night and leave with arms-full of cages to care for animals through the night in their own homes, as she did.

The volunteers picked up her willingness to do things that scare the average person, especially when it came to crawling inside the cage of a large critter that animal control had dropped off at the Sanctuary’s doorstep.

Volunteer coordinator Darleen Willis only remembers saying no to Kaufmann once in her 18-year span of volunteering. In her defense, it was picking up a caged owl with its wings “puffed up,” making it appear more intimidating than it was.

Kaufmann was the one who pulled Willis out of retirement through a charismatic introduction of an owl perched on her shoulder.

“My face is in his feathers, and I’m like, ‘This is so cool!” Willis said. “I just got sucked into Dorothy’s vortex.”

Kaufmann was good at knowing just the right amount of responsibility a volunteer was ready for and slipped in subtle “rewards” based on their consistency, like feeding a brand-new batch of baby skunks or holding one of Kaufmann’s favorite owls.

The more time she spent around Kaufmann, the more the fear of the next challenge began to dissipate.

“She brought out the best in people,” Willis said.

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She has inspired the next generation

While volunteers tended to feel more comfort working behind-the-scenes, Kaufmann was one that gave the Sanctuary a face out in the real-world.

She worked with artists, chefs, business owners and politicians for fundraisers, and could get even the leeriest people interested in the animals the Sanctuary was rehabilitating.

Though she would make every effort to bring in funding for the animals, she was frugal in daily life. So much so, she refused to take a salary in her first several years as director so it could go back into the Sanctuary.

One way of generating money was through fundraisers. As part of some of the fundraising events, parents could donate for their children to play with games at the Sanctuary. This donation idea was loosely enforced though, as Kaufmann did not want any child to miss the opportunity to learn.

Kaufmann shined on educational tours, where children’s eyes and grins would grow wide as she educated them on the animals, particularly her baby, Chancey, a barred owl unable to be released back into the wild that she was particularly bonded to. Every animal had a name, and she remembered it.

Hospital manager Emily Holden, who will serve as the interim director, said it was not only Kaufmann’s talent and warmth with the animals that stood out to her, but her connections with her people.

At the Sanctuary’s Christmas parties, you couldn’t enter without a festive hat or a pin. If you didn’t have one, Kaufmann would run to her pipe cleaner stash and create one on the spot.

She dropped off care baskets on the doorsteps of sick volunteers. She paid attention to every detail in a conversation. She baked (and happily shared) the best rum cake. She kept her health issues private, even towards the end of her life, she would still show up for her staff and work through the pain, which volunteer Cheryl Greene said was on par with her “unbelievable strength.”

“You could see it was hard for her to walk,” Webb added. “Even if she had to work through pain, she would be here.”

As with any difficulty that would come, whether the Sanctuary was flooded to her waist because of storms or fire ants scaled her arms, the work would always continue.

“If someone could get a car through the wreckage, we would be here,” Holden said.

Volunteers, family, friends, and community members are confident that the work she started will continue because of the example she set and will continue to tell the stories of her legacy, returning even more injured animals back into the wild, giving them their second chance at life.

“We love all the hundreds of babies that come each year but also have such a feeling of pride when something once injured is able to return to the wild,” Kaufmann told the News Journal in a 2021 interview. “Your heart just swells, and that big grin starts all over again. It’s what keeps us going.”

Where do I go for funeral arrangements?

All are invited to attend a celebration of life for Kaufmann from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida located at 105 N. S Street. Kaufmann’s visitation will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Aug. 26 at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church located at 6451 Park Ave. in Milton. This will be followed by the funeral mass and burial at Coldwater Church Cemetery located at 6684 Coldwater Church in Milton. All are invited afterwards to a reception at St. Rosa of Lima Catholic Church.

How do I donate to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida?

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida are requested. You can go to pensacolawildlife.com to donate. In addition, daily supplies are need, including the following:

Meal worms (live and dried,) live crickets, latex gloves, berries and vegetables of all types, paper towels, Simple Green cleaning product, venison and red meat (no pork,) fresh and frozen chicken and fish and sunflower hearts (located in the bird seed department).

Drop-offs are welcomed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Dorothy Kaufmann, Wildlife Sanctuary Northwest Florida director, dead