Heroic efforts happen every day, and they’re not always done for a person’s benefit, but for an animal in need of love and care.

If the thousands of animals that have spent time at the Tails Humane Society animal shelter in DeKalb could talk, they’d surely say Nancy Rigler is among their heroes.

Rigler, 77, of DeKalb, has been a Tails volunteer for half a century. In that time, she’s had a hand in helping thousands of animals live a better life.

She doesn’t think she’s a hero, however.

“I certainly don’t see myself as a hero,” Rigler said. “What I would say is, I think volunteering is so wonderful. If you can find a place to volunteer that fits your values and things that you care about, you’ll get so much more back than you’ll give.”

Becky Frale, the volunteer and outreach manager for Tails, said it’s “incredible” how involved Rigler is with Tails Humane Society.

Frale started her job with Tails about two months ago, and said Rigler has helped her learn the ins and outs of the shelter.

“She does so much,” Frale said. “She’s kind of everywhere. She’s really involved. As a newer person here, I ask her questions. She is very, very dedicated and passionate.”

Aside from being a longtime volunteer, Rigler has taken the notes for Tails Humane Society board meetings for 25 years.

That’s not the only way she volunteers. For many years, Rigler fostered dogs and cats to help them cope with changes in their life circumstances.

“Tails will get some dogs from very difficult situations and rather than bring them right into the shelter, they will often go into a foster home,” Rigler said.

She said many shelters only bring in puppies from “bad situations,” but Tails will foster a mother and their puppies until they’re ready to be adopted.

Since spring 2014, Rigler has been behind the shelter’s social media accounts. About once a week over those 12 years, she comes to the shelter to walk some of the dogs, learn their personalities and post about them on social media in the hopes they’ll find their forever home.

Rigler said she took on the social media work once she retired.

“I saw they had a very minor presence on social media, and I volunteered to start posting animals for adoption on Facebook,” Rigler said. “That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing ever since.”

While she doesn’t manage the Facebook page outright, she’s the woman behind most adoption posts. And after more than a decade of that work, she said she’s learned to “go with the flow” and “adjust to the changes in the algorithms when it comes to what works and what doesn’t on social media.

“In the very beginning, almost all followers of the Tails page, or anybody’s page for that matter, on Facebook, all their followers would see everything,” Rigler said. “And then they changed those, so you have to find ways to make sure as many people see the post as possible.”

As for why she’s devoted a significant portion of her life to Tails Humane Society, Rigler said it’s a part of who she is. She maintains that she gets more from the volunteer work than she gives.

“Volunteering is very important to me,” Rigler said. “I’ve been very fortunate in life and feel it’s important to give back.”