Talks with children
In preparation for the sterilization campaign in the village of La Sauceda on June 23, on June 18 Antonia López and Julia Salido, our education team, visited the José Vasconcelos kindergarten to talk with children about the care and protection of pets. Tony’s teenage son, Adhán Mata López, accompanied them and brought a puppy to demonstrate how to treat one.
After talking with the children and answering their questions, they laid out our giant snakes-and-ladders board game and invited the children to play the game in small groups. Altogether, our team talked and interacted with 185 children between ages 3 and 5 that day.
On July 23, Julia and Tony participated in a summer course at Hacienda de Morales for 30 children between the ages of 3 and 11. Their theme was sensitivity to animal life and the care and protection of pets.
They began by talking about animals’ sensibilities and answering the children’s questions. Then they played a game of pretending to take a dog for a walk. They also read the illustrated story “Two Lucky Dogs,” about two dogs that wander away from their home, get lost and have frightening experiences, but are eventually adopted by two families. During Julia and Tony’s presentation, they and Tony’s son Adhán introduced the children to a real puppy.
Our recent posts on Facebook deserve a look
Joslyn Lewis, who’s not only our treasurer, but also a terrific graphic designer, creates compelling messages for our Facebook page. Here are some of her recent ones.
New bus messages
Joslyn also created two new bus messages, which began appearing on the backs of two city buses at the beginning of July. The first warns against approaching dogs that may be guarding their territory. The second announces our milestone of 25,000 sterilization cases and the reduction in the number of stray animals living in misery that the sterilizations represent.
The messages will remain on the buses during July, August, and September. Our thanks to Joslyn Lewis for designing them.
TV interviews by our education team
On June 6, our two education specialists Tony López and Julia Salido gave an interview on Channel 8’s morning program ¡Despierto Guanajuato! about the advantages of adopting adult pets, as opposed to adopting puppies and kittens, They pointed out that mature pets adapt quickly to being part of a family, are easy to train, and those adopted from the street are very grateful for being rescued. To watch the interview, click here.
Tony and Julia gave another interview on the same program on June 27, discussing the question “Why are dogs on the street?” They explained that the phenomenon is due to irresponsible people. Although many dogs that roam the streets of Guanajuato have homes, their owners allow them to go outdoors unaccompanied during the day, exposing them to numerous dangers, including being killed by vehicles and capture by animal control personnel.
Even more sadly, many dogs are discarded by their owners when they become inconvenient. Unsterilized female dogs are often turned out of their homes if they become pregnant. Huskies, a popular breed, may be abandoned because they are highly energetic and tend to bark a lot.
Tony continued the conversation about pet abandonment during a subsequent interview on July 25. You can watch both interviews by clicking here and here.
A new aid for teaching children about dogs
We have reprinted 500 copies of an out-of-print coloring book, Convive Seguro con perros (Live safely with dogs), for use in our program Teaching Children Compassion for Animals. Originally published as a bilingual booklet by the Humane Society of the United States, the reprint, which is in Spanish only, uses cartoon illustrations to teach children how to behave around dogs to avoid being harmed by them.
We thank the Humane Society for giving us permission to reprint this excellent teaching guide and the Alice Morgan–Edith J. Goode Trust for providing the funds. Some of the booklet’s lessons apply to adults as well as to children and have been appearing in some of our bus messages, such as the one with the green background shown above.