The last meeting of the Animal Welfare Civic Engagement Project featured Shakela Brown, community educator at the Washington Humane Society [1], and her German Shepherd, Ryder.
Students listened to Shakela discuss her role as a community educator with the Humane Society, the country’s only Congressionally-chartered animal welfare agency. Shakela's responsibilities include teaching people how to respect and care for animals and explaining the connection between how people treat animals and the way they treat their fellow human beings
The event also included speakers from the Washington Animal Rescue League [2] and the Humane Society University [3], where students can earn college degrees in Animal Policy and Advocacy and related fields.
Most of the 40 project participants volunteered with dog and cat rescue organizations, which hold “adoption events” at local pet stores. The students “socialize” abandoned and neglected dogs with the hope that someone will adopt the dogs they work with for the day.
On June 16th, the Animal Welfare group and their leaders also cleaned up an Arlington dog park and heard the park manager discuss how community parks benefit dogs and build community among dog owners.
[Read about the June 16th animal welfare project event on our TWC NOW channel] [4]
