Portage resident Taylor Calhoun has turned her passion for animals into a career worth going bananas over.
Calhoun works for Peaceable Primate Sanctuary in Winamac, Ind., which serves as a retirement center for primates who have been abused or no longer wanted. Many of the primates there have been previously used in research or kept as pets at one point in their lives.
Calhoun is a part of the animal care staff. Her responsibilities include cleaning the animals, preparing their diets and giving them medicine as needed. Calhoun said one of the animals in the Sanctuary is diabetic, so she is responsible for giving them insulin twice a day.
She has said one of her favorite parts of the job includes establishing a relationship with the monkeys and seeing how it progresses and improves over time.
“It's really a rewarding job,” Calhoun said. “It does take a lot of patience and a little bit of skill, I would say, to actually take care of these primates. They're all extremely smart, so you really do have to work with them. Some of them were abused or things like that, so you really have to gain their trust. It's really a rewarding experience being able to bond with them and gain their trust.”
According to Calhoun, the Sanctuary was established when the director, who used to work at Brookfield Zoo, wanted to open a sanctuary of his own.
As a nonprofit, the Sanctuary holds a variety of events throughout the year to raise funds and collect donations. Its next event will be BaboonFest in October. The festival will offer food, raffles, and a chance for visitors to meet the monkeys.
Calhoun is currently studying biology at Purdue University Northwest to eventually become a veterinarian. While she enjoys working with a variety of animals, she said there is a possibility of returning to the Sanctuary after finishing school to one day work as its vet. In the meantime, she’ll continue to work there as part of the animal care staff.
Calhoun also says she enjoys the variety in work. It’s different working with primates than it is working with cats and dogs, and she appreciates that she’s had the chance to work with a wide spectrum of animals.
“We do have a veterinarian that does come out regularly to the Sanctuary, so being able to work with her has been really beneficial in getting to learn things from a different sense,” Calhoun said.
She said one of the major differences working with primates as opposed to cats or dogs is something most don’t realize right away.
“So for the primates, we actually focus on not really touching them and things like that,” Calhoun said. “So, when we examine them or do anything medical with them, we sedate them. That definitely is a lot different because sometimes we do have to use a darting mechanism in order to actually give them the sedation meds.”
Calhoun’s love for animals doesn’t end with primates, though. In addition to her work at the Sanctuary, Calhoun volunteers from time to time at Lakeshore PAWS, an animal shelter in Valparaiso. She enjoys working with the animals there and plans to foster some in the future.
Calhoun is an avid dog lover and has two Pitbull mixes of her own as well.