Tuesday began with a surprise visit with HSCC kittens in their play room! The kittens had just as much fun as the campers did as they enjoyed pets and showed off their climbing and jumping skills around the play room. These kittens were part of a transport from Good Karma Pet Rescue in Florida! They are now available for adoption at HSCC!
After kitten play time we met with Joann Nichols, an animal cruelty investigator and Wildlife Rehabilitator who has worked at HSCC for 14 years. Joann's first program was about the work she does investigating animal cruelty cases in Vermont. She showed us pictures of cases she worked with and some before and after pictures of animals that she helped. Then we set campers to work acting out two different scenarios where they had to role play pet owners and animal cruelty investigators. Through their role plays they demonstrated what required conditions are for any dog that is kept outside (constant access to potable water, correct shelter size, chain with a swivel in a clear area, and the dog must be up to date on vaccinations and registered with the town).
The second program Joann did with us was about dogs in a hot car. We used stuffed dogs in the humane society car as a demonstration and the campers used a device that can read the estimated temperature inside of a vehicle from the outside. On a 70 degree day, the inside of a parked car can easily reach over 100 degrees in minutes. So never, ever leave a dog or child alone in a parked car on a warm day. And if you happen to see a dog or child in a car on a warm day and they are showing signs of distress, call the police immediately, try to open the vehicle door to get them out or if it's locked you can legally break the window to rescue an animal or child in distress.
Before our second guest speaker of the day we played some games together such as animals heads up guessing game and some 7 up.
Our next guest was Jill, a professional dog trainer, and her own dog Harvey. Jill and Harvey taught us about dog behavior such as what a dog does when it is on alert, nervous, scared, aggressive or happy, calm, and relaxed. We discussed the best way to approach any dog and always ask permission before touching any dog that is not yours and keep in mind the dog may not always want to be touched. We learned about clicker training and played a game where one camper at a time played a dog and we had to use our clickers or clap to try and get the camper to do what we wanted them to without saying any words. It was a lot of fun to watch and imagine what it is like to be a dog trying to understand what humans are telling them.
Our day concluded with a talk about how to handle small animals such as rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, etc. We discussed how to approach them calmly, use both hands to scoop them up, keep them close to your body, and before setting them back down, make sure all feet are on the floor. Campers acted out skits with their own stuffed smallies to show us what they had learned.
***Reminders: Tomorrow (weather permitting) we will be walking to Red Rocks Park for lunch and will be back at the tent in time for pick up. So please be sure your camper wears comfortable walking shoes and has their lunch and water bottle as always. We will not be swimming, so campers do not need any swimsuits or towels.
Friday we will be doing a group share about pets, so campers should bring in a photo or stuffed animal to share if possible
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