June 17, 2009 — Mandy and Cowgirl, two furry four-legged friends, accompanied by ladies from the education outreach staff of the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center, paid a visit to the Boys and Girls Club in Christiansted Wednesday to teach the children about responsible pet ownership.
"The goal of the outreach program is to familiarize children with where the center is located, what services we offer, pet safety, pet care and how to keep pets healthy and happy," said Therese Donarski, humane education coordinator at the center. "A big push in the education of children on pet responsibility is that a pet is part of the family."
For the sessions, the children were divided into three smaller, manageable groups. Some had trouble keeping their excitement in check, finding it difficult to stay seated and quiet or keep their hands to themselves.
Donarski conducted a session with 11 children ages 6 to 7, pointing out the difference between wild, tame and farm animals. She told the children that animals have feelings, and then asked what kind of feelings they might have. She had story boards that the youngsters read out loud and clear. The boards illustrated proper pet care such as feeding, watering, getting shots and grooming.
Another group of children was totally amazed when Mandy a miniature, apricot-color Labradoodle, showed off her obedience skills. The group of 11 children aged 12 to 14 said "wow" whenever Mandy sat, stayed or played fetch with a tennis ball — all on command.
Lynnea Roberts, an outreach staffer, trained the shelter dog to show children how to keep dogs under control and let them know who is in control. She told them not to hit or yell at a dog for misbehaving, but to reward and give treats for good behavior. After the demonstration, Cheryl Miller, humane education assistant, gave cards with obedience scenarios to pairs of children, and had one read the question and the other give the answer.
"I learned to get the dog to sit or stay you teach them by giving them a treat," Crystal Cepeda said. "We shouldn't hit dogs."
In another room at the club, V. Celeste Fahie, humane education presenter, spoke to 16 kids in the age group of 8 to 9 years on the importance of spaying and neutering pets. She told the story of the female dog Sandy having puppies, and her offspring having puppies, and so on, and how after two years they could produce 14,000 dogs. As she spoke, an assistant tossed out tiny stuffed dogs to the children to show them they were taking on too many dogs to care for them properly. The children got a coloring book called What is Spaying and Neutering? published by the Humane Society.
"Animals have to be spayed and neutered to not make so much babies," said Jailene Nunez, when asked what lesson she learned. "I will tell all my friends and family about this."
The humane education team held a felt puppet-making workshop, with children adding trim of feathers, beads, sequins and googly eyes. Puppet and role-playing activities took place to encourage the children to express their feelings about the needs of animals on St. Croix and the connection between animal abuse and interpersonal violence.
"This is a great program teaching the children about abuse, neglect and spaying and neutering," said Kristie Silvius, unit director at the club. "Hopefully they will learn early and the cycle doesn't continue."
Founded in 1973, the St Croix Animal Welfare Center promotes the humane treatment of animals in the community through education, encouragement and enforcement. To learn more about programs and services, go to StCroixAWC.org. To volunteer, call the center at 778-1650.
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