At the Calgary Humane Society, education is prevention. This motto extends to every aspect of the non-profit animal shelter. In particular, it applies to their day camps.
The organization runs day camps on every PD day for both the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School schedules. These camps offer out-of-school kids an opportunity for fun and learning.
“We try to have a healthy balance of play, learning and hands-on activities,” said Nabila Badr, manager of humane education.
That means the day is filled with craft time, games, presentations from different experts, visiting opportunities and sometimes petting opportunities.
“We never guarantee pets,” said Badr. “But we do always plan for two animal interactions per day. That might just be seeing an animal up close and personal.”
First and foremost, the Calgary Humane Society has to make sure the animals are comfortable first. That way they can ensure that the children will be safe.
During the spring break camps, the kids got to hang out with Molly, a tripod — a dog with three legs.
Badr said everyone got to pet the animal “because Molly was comfortable with them, and the kids were listening and following the rules all day.”
During the camp, children are taught how to take care of animals. The earlier they can start to hear about animal body language and what respect towards animals is like, the easier is it to learn.
“Through this process, we’re teaching kids how to take care of their pets, how to interact with others’ pets, and how to interact with other people in general,” said Badr.
Respect and boundaries apply to everyone. If you can learn to respect a dog you can respect a stranger. This prevention system goes deeper than just animals, says Badr.
“There is a strong link between people who abuse animals and people who abuse other people,” said Badr.
Badr states that while the camps have strict rules that everyone has to follow, the reward for doing so is well worth it.
“My personal goal is that the kids have a great time and they learn along the way.”
