It's Time for PAWSwalk 2010!

What’s cuter than 1,200 pups and 1,500 people all walking together in support of PAWS? You and your pooch joining the pack, of course!

The 19th annual PAWSwalk takes place this year at Seattle’s Magnuson Park on September 11, just one month away. We would love to have you, your family and friends (four-legged and two-legged alike) join us in celebrating the work PAWS does and raise funds to support the thousands of animals we will help this year.

This family event really does have something for everyone. The 5k walk, beginning at 10 a.m., takes you through scenic Magnuson Park. Is your pooch not moving as fast as he used to? Do you have a stroller you’d like to bring along? Not to worry–two short cuts will be available, making the walk accessible to everyone.

Perhaps you’d like to see how Fido does on the agility course hosted by the Canine Behavior Center, or at fly ball with the Seattle FlyDogs Fly Ball club. Also this year, we’ll have face painting for kids, as well as fun activities in our Kids Zone. We’re even introducing a new guardian and canine look-a-like contest this year.

Register today and use the next month to raise funds that will support the life-saving work PAWS does each day. 

Want to volunteer at the event? We could use your help. Contact Sasha Anderson at sanderson@paws.org or 425.787.2500 x261.

We’ll see you at PAWSwalk 2010!

P.S. – On Thursday, August 19 the PAWS Staff and Volunteer Team will host a special PAWSwalk 2010 fundraiser at BalMar in Ballard! Your pooch is welcome on their outdoor patio, and there will be food and drink specials available, plus an exciting raffle drawing for fun prizes. Visit the PAWS Events Calendar for more information.

Giving Louis Braille Students a Feel for Animals

  Did you ever stop to think about all the different senses we use to experience and learn about animals and the world around us? I recently had the incredible opportunity to help develop curriculum for and present summer camp lessons to students at the Louis Braille School, which serves children with vision impairment and special challenges. After hours of brainstorming, curriculum writing, and even blindfolding ourselves, my co-educator and I could not have been more thrilled with the results of our unique presentation.

The children were able to experience different ways they can appreciate, learn about and help animals with the use of sounds, touch and scent. It really made me think of a lot of different ways I experience things. For instance, hearing a bird chirp, the scent of ripe strawberries, or petting my dog.

There were so many delightful moments that touched me. I will never forget bringing my therapy dog Abby to visit the campers. As I observed one camper carefully touch her soft ears, wet nose, and curly tail, he suddenly exclaimed, “She’s beautiful!” It warmed my heart to know he felt her beauty. It also reaffirmed that like all kids, these children have an inherent love of animals.

We were thrilled to team up with Louis Braille School and wholeheartedly agree with their director Carolyn Meyer, that when we focus on people’s abilities, they produce amazing results. It’s hard to explain, but if you check out these photos, maybe you’ll understand what I felt.

Using a tub filled with water, trash and food that wild animals find in their natural habitat, I explain to Brett the importance of not polluting.

PAWS educator, Sandy, guides Christopher hands over a pair of Great Horned Owl wings.


Sandy helps Brett create a pinecone enrichment item to donate to the animals at the PAWS Wildlife Center.

Planning for Pets when New Baby Arrives

Are you expecting a new baby, or thinking about starting a family? With all the excitement and emotional and physical stress involved in bringing a new human child into your family, it’s easy to lose sight of the animals in your life who are also completely dependent upon your love and care.

It’s important to start planning ahead of time, to ensure that both your pet’s and human child’s needs are met once new baby arrives.

PAWS has some great resources with tips for integrating new babies into homes with cats and dogs.
 

• In our latest PAWS magazine, two families shared their success stories of bringing a new baby home to their formerly pet-centric household.
• Kay Joubert, PAWS Director of Companion Animal Services, was also recently quoted on the issue in Parent Map magazine.
• And on our website, we have a resource page on pets and babies, that provides a great set of proactive steps you can take to ensure a happy home and family.

Bringing a new baby into the family doesn’t have to mean giving up or ignoring your beloved, life-long furry companions. Use the resources above, and if you still have concerns or questions, please utilize our free behavior help line for one-on-one answers and solutions.

Pennies for PAWS – Penny Harvest Schools Choose Animals

Clearly, kids in our community care about animals. PAWS was recently honored by several Penny Harvest schools with donations totaling $2,633.33. Wow, and to think people say a penny doesn’t go far these days.

Thanks to the Penny Harvest program, children nationwide learn the value of every penny and how to help their community. After collecting pennies in the fall, each school selects student representatives to form a Roundtable Group. These student leaders help identify and discuss the issues of their community and then select deserving organizations who best serve these concerns. 

 This year, a whopping 47 percent of Penny Harvest Roundtables identified animal welfare as one of the top three issues they care about most. I was invited to meet with several of these students during their selection process. I can tell you first hand, they took their job seriously. I was so impressed with their compassion, leadership qualities and commitment to make this a better world.

Students chose PAWS, because we help both wild animals and companion animals in our community. You can imagine how thrilled I was to represent PAWS at their awards assemblies once we were selected! After all, who doesn’t dream of receiving handmade checks that are so big you need both hands to hold it up?

So a great big thank you to these schools for caring about animals:

• Carriage Crest Elementary
• Cedar Valley Community School
• Coe Elementary
• Gatewood Elementary
• Giddens School
• Greenwood Elementary

You guys rock!

 

Youth Work Parties are fun for everyone!

Check out these photos from our last Youth Work Party where an awesome group of young and enthusiastic volunteers spent a morning creating pools for a group of orphaned baby ducklings.

Everyone worked hard and had fun, and the end result was priceless. Quite “quacktastic” if you ask the ducklings!

So what are you waiting for? If you are 10 years or older, you can join the Youth Work Party Team with a parent or guardian today.

Together, we will work on different projects around PAWS to help the animals. Space is limited for each work party so don’t wait. If you’re interested, our next work party is on July 24. We’ll be building bird perches, bunny hide boxes, and cat toys to help the animals at PAWS!

Teaching Kids to Make a Difference

Like those puppies who are still growing into their feet, teaching kids always leaves me smiling, laughing, and full of warm-fuzzies. I spend my work week making new friends, listening to heart-warming stories, visiting numerous classrooms (sometimes even with my therapy dog Abby), and developing fun hands-on activities to teach kids about how cool animals really are.

Jealous yet? Maybe not, but take my word for it – being a humane educator is an awesome job.

The goal of PAWS' humane education program is to teach kids to appreciate, respect and help animals. Most children love animals, so animal welfare issues are the perfect vehicle to teach children about compassion and responsibility. It’s pretty clever if you ask me.

I recently received an e-mail from a teacher that perfectly illustrates the impact one visit can have on a classroom:

Hi Tiffany and Abby,

Thanks again for the visit! We are working on our posters. [Click photo see the students' work larger.]

Over the long weekend (this past weekend)...THREE of my kids had their dogs spayed/neutered!

One of them is a Spanish-speaking family and it was only because of the lessons here at school that the 2nd grader was able to inform his parents about the importance of neutering their dog.

I nearly cried! It was such a beautiful thing! He was so proud that his parents listened to the knowledge that he brought home.

AND a first grader in my class adopted a cat from PAWS over the weekend.

THANK YOU!
Jennie

I love my job, wouldn’t you? I look forward to sharing more kid-inspired stories with you soon!

Welcome!

I wanted to be the first to welcome you to the new and improved paws.org!

We hope you like the changes. With lots of photos showcasing the amazing animals we are honored to help every day, clear and simple navigation, and the new blog, you can stay up-to-date on issues, find solutions for challenges you may be having with an animal, and be inspired by the breathtaking stories your support makes possible. 

While the site may look different, you’ll still find lots of useful fact sheets in our Resource Library. You can treat yourself to browsing photos and descriptions of the many wonderful animals available for adoption. Check out the cool and educational kids section with many ideas on fun activities kids can do to help animals. Stay updated on happenings at PAWS in our events calendar. And if you are looking for effective, humane solutions for conflicts with wildlife, we can offer you lots of great tips.

Please take a few moments to see what we’ve created for you.  Let us know what you think by e-mailing webmaster@paws.org. Your feedback is always welcome!

All the best,

Annette Laico
Executive Director