On the afternoon of October 11 Amigos educators Antonia López and Julia Salido led an hour of educational activities with youngsters at Resplandor International’s community center in the village of Cajones. The activities focused on caring for their pets. Twelve children aged 8 to 13 years participated in the activities. Tony’s son, Adhán Mata, assisted Tony and Julia.
The session began with questions from Tony and Julia and answers from the children about pets’ needs and care. They talked about the importance of treating pets with respect, as family members. To teach the children empathy, they introduced them to a young dog that had been abandoned and recently rescued, telling them her story. They also explained the benefits of sterilizing pets.
They showed the children how to play our popular giant board game, modeled on the game Snakes and Ladders. The game is played with large dice, which the players take turns throwing onto the board. If a dice lands on a section describing appropriate treatment of a pet, the player is rewarded by being allowed to advance. If it lands on a spot describing inappropriate treatment, the player is punished by being sent back to the beginning of the course.
Tony read excerpts from the coloring book Convive seguro con perros (Live safely with dogs), focusing on one of the booklet’s lessons: how to safely approach and touch an unfamiliar dog (with the owner’s permission). To practice the lesson, one by one the children slowly approached the rescued dog with the handler’s permission, spoke softly to the dog and extended a hand, palm side down, to allow the dog to sniff it before gently stroking the dog along the side of her neck.
Convive seguro con perros was originally by the U.S. Humane Society in 2008, but was out of print until recently, when we reprinted it with the Society’s permission. We’re giving copies to children and teachers who participate in our education program.
We are pleased to be working with Resplandor International, which runs a program that offers many educational activities for children and families in Cajones and some eight or nine nearby villages southwest of the city of Guanajuato.