I was saddened to read in the newspaper this morning that Alcor, the Erie Zoo's broken-footed polar bear, died following surgery to repair his paw. If you haven't heard the whole sad story, you can read it at www.goerie.com.

I did an internship at the Erie Zoo in my final year of college -- assistant to ZooGuy Scott Mitchell in the Community Relations Department (yes, he's really as nice as he seems). I impressed the zoo folks during my internship and was asked to stay on as a part-time summer temp after I graduated.

I stayed for four years.

I worked for peanuts and didn't have any benefits. But, really, I was 22 years old and if there's a time you can live on a meager paycheck and risk living without health insurance, it's when you're young, healthy and single.

Like I said, they didn't pay me much, but what I gained in experience was priceless. During my years there, I did everything from stuffing 5,000 plastic Easter Eggs to on-air radio interviews to handling an 8-foot boa constrictor and teaching kids about reptiles to raking poop in the Children's Zoo when we were short-handed because all the keepers when back to college. At the zoo, everyone pitches in -- wherever help is needed.

The biggest lesson I learned at the zoo was that I really hated working in Public Relations -- which was a problem since that is what I had a brand-spanking-new college degree in. But, I discovered desktop publishing there and fell in love with page design and I enjoyed writing press releases and articles for the ZooNews newsletter. These were the things that led me to a new career at the newspaper.

I'm glad I'm not there today. It will be quiet in the offices today -- somber and sad, I'm sure.

I winced when I read today's headline about Alcor because I know, in light of all the recent zoo animal deaths, that it will make some people begin to wonder if they're not being properly cared for.

Let me assure you that they are. The people who work at the zoo don't do it for the money, the glory or the great work environment -- trust me -- they don't pay well, there is no glory in zookeeping and if you've ever smelled a giraffe, you'd know they don't work there for the enviroment (oh my Lord, skunks have NOTHING on giraffe funk). It's a labor of love.

Erie Zoo staffers, keepers and volunteers love those animals. And, as a former insider, I can attest to the fact that the animals at the Erie Zoo always come first. Period. They get the best of everything. They are always the No. 1 concern and the No. 1 priority. Period.

The sad truth is that they did the best they could for Alcor -- he was operated on by a world-renowned veterinarian and accompanied by 4 Erie Zoo staffers (including a vet) who did everything they could to help him.

We all hoped and wished for a better ending -- a nice, happy Barbaro-the-race-horse ending.

It's heartbreaking that it went the other way, but it's nobody's fault.