RENATE SPENCE

Renate Spence came to San Antonio in 1977 with her Air Force family who was being relocated to Randolph Air Force Base. After graduating from UTSA in 1987 with a BBA in Marketing and Management, she briefly worked at Builders Square in their advertising department. Realizing that the corporate world wasn’t really for her, she decided to go back to school and study nursing. A part-time position in 1990 at Hickey Animal Clinic introduced her to veterinary medicine, falconry, Dr. Melissa Hill, DVM and John Karger and she has been involved with the project ever since. She also was involved with the summer Zoo Show for Last Chance Forever at the San Antonio Zoo from 1992-1994. She then joined the staff of Kirby Animal Hospital with Dr. Hill in 1993 and, for 30 years, she was a manager and veterinary technician at that location. She also volunteered as a bookkeeper for Last Chance Forever during that time. After Dr. Hill sold Kirby Animal Hospital and retired, Renate then joined the staff at Last Chance Forever as a raptor technician and bookkeeper in June 2022.