PAWS Academy: You can be a Leader of the Pack!

June 16, 2020

Written by Madi Cook, PAWS Education Intern

The End of the Pet Series

The final week of our pet series is here! We hope these past weeks have instilled an appreciation and love for animals as well as the skills and knowledge to care for them.

What Have We Covered?

Our journey started with explaining why pets need people where we went over the basic needs of all pets. Food, water, shelter, oxygen, space, family, safety and respect are the eight needs. Next, we focused on one need of pets, safety, and explored ways to prevent your pet from getting lost and ways to help them get back home. Continuing with our safety theme, the following two topics had to do body language and how learning about the ways cats and dogs communicate can help someone learn how to safely pet a cat or how to help dogs feel safe.

A little over halfway through, we learned what makes a pet, a pet. Remember, a pet is an animal that is domesticated, a companion animal, and an animal that needs humans for its basic needs. The seventh week we shared how much a pet cat and dog cost annually to care for. After that, we showed you a part of what PAWS does as an animal shelter and why dogs and cats end up at PAWS. Cats or dogs surrendered by their owner, transported from another shelter, found as strays, or born in care can all find a temporary home at PAWS. In our most recent PAWS Academy episode we had Dr. Liz on as a guest appearance where we discussed the problem of pet overpopulation and the solution of spaying and neutering our pets.

Today, we are going to highlight some people who have taken their love for animals to the next level by becoming Leaders of the Pack. We hope they can inspire others to do as they did and make an even greater difference in animals’ lives! Become a champion for animals!

Leaders of the Pack

Ezequiel and Khaiyah worked together to hold a huge donation drive at their school. They wrote a letter to the principal asking for permission, then Ezequiel gave a speech to the entire school of 540 students! He asked the students to bring food, blankets, leashes, and any other supplies. Then, they came to PAWS with his family to deliver the awesome donations, where they were then able to meet some of the wonderful animals at PAWS looking for homes.

Isabelle was assigned a school project where she needed to find a way to give back to the community. She decided to hold a dog bake sale! She made her own dog treats, using her dog as a taste-tester, then sold the treats at a dog park. She graciously donated all of the money to PAWS. Isabelle also came to PAWS for our Teen program, where she got to learn how to train a dog and make bird nests to help our baby bird patients.

Andrew held an online donation drive and a dog treat bake sale after attending the PAWS Kids Who Care program in 4th grade. He wanted to help animals and raised $300 to help PAWS! His fundraising page said, “There are many animals in the shelter now. There is not enough money to pay for all these poor dogs and cats. I know how much it hurts to see your dogs lonely and cold. Pause for PAWS and take a little moment to make a big difference.”

These past Leaders of the Pack are exceptional, and their hard work makes an enormous impact on the animals’ lives as they wait to find their forever homes. PAWS is beyond grateful for such altruistic acts.

Our Challenge to You

Become a Leader of the Pack in your community! Not sure where to start? Here are some suggestions:

  • Complete a service project
  • Get something from PAWS’ Amazon wish list for the animals
  • Run a fundraiser or donation drive
  • Share your knowledge about animal welfare with others
  • Call your local shelter or visit their website to find out how you can help
  • Foster pets

This Week’s Activities

Want to keep learning about leadership and animal advocacy? You can visit paws.org/PAWSAcademy and you will find two sets of activities at different difficulty levels along with a word search and coloring sheet!

Continue To Learn With Us!

Thanks for coming along this journey of the PAWS Academy’s pet series! If you missed last week’s video where PAWS veterinarian, Dr. Liz, shares her knowledge on pet overpopulation or if just want to see cute kitten click here. You can also find any of our other videos or activities at paws.org/PAWSAcademy. Keep an eye out for PAWS Academy’s new series about wildlife and continue to learn how you make a difference in animals’ lives!


If you have any questions or suggestions you can reach us at [email protected].

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