WSVN — If your child can’t wait to enjoy the dog days of summer, there’s a camp where they can frolic with their four legged friends. 7’s Lynn Martinez shows us in today’s Parent to Parent.
From caressing cats to playing with puppies, the fur is going to fly for campers at this summer at the Humane Society of Broward County.
Carrie Neff: “It’s a great place where they can come and learn about pets and also help animals.”
Kids ages six through 12 will get hands on experience taking care of the shelter animals that includes preparing their food, sometimes a messy job, and feeding them and that’s not all. They will aldo be taught all the responsibilities of being a pet owner including cleaning up after them.
Carrie Neff: “They get to clean the cages, which some of the kids say, ‘Oh no that’s terrible.’ Actually for many of the kids, it turns out to be one of their favorite activities.”
One of the first lessons campers will learn is how to approach an animal they don’t know.
Carrie Neff: “We teach them about staying safe around animals, dogs in particular. We teach them about reading body language when it comes to animals and how they communicate with us using body language.”
And veterinary experts will visit the kids with valuable lessons in biology. But most importantly, counselors say kids learn empathy at a young age, being sensitive to others just by spending time with the animals.
Carrie Neff: “We teach them about pet over population and the reason why there are so many homeless animals and the need for shelters in our community.”
And kids seem to agree. This camp gets four paws up.
Camper: “I like that we get to see animals every day.”
The camp costs $225 a week and includes a T-shirt, lunch on Friday and snacks every day.
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