Winter Camp and Humane Treatment

HAWS Winter Camp ran last week when the kids had a break from school. One of the goals of our education program is to help children develop empathy for all living things. We do this through introducing the concept of caring about the needs of animals and thinking about how people's actions might effect an animal's well-being.

Two of the boys attending were high-functioning autistic and therefore behaved different than the other children. I worried that the other kids in the group would notice this difference and tease them, or at the very least not be tolerant of them.

I didn't need to worry, since all the kids made me very proud. Not only were they tolerant of the two boys, but they went out of their way to be considerate of them and reached out to make sure they were included in every way. I observed kids moving over to make room for the two boys with autism, asking them if they wanted to join in activities when the boys were off to the side, and making sure the boys had extra opportunities to engage with the animals we had out.

Was this a result of our programming? It's hard to say -- most of the kids have been through HAWS camps or other educational programs in the past. I'd like to take at least partial credit for it, but I'd also like to think that our world is becoming more accepting of people who aren't like us.

Winter Camp is Here Again

It's that time of the year again - when the snow is on the ground, when it's gotten cold enough that you can see your breath, and when in Wisconsin in December it can get up into the 40's and drizzle. It's also the time of year when kids have a break from school and HAWS holds Winter Camp.

This year HAWS had two sessions of camp -- a two day session on Monday and Tuesday, and a three day session running Wednesday through Friday.


We've done a lot of the traditional activities that HAWS Winter Camp schedules such as making pine cone bird feeders for the kids to take home and put out for the wild birds, and learning about sled dogs and getting a dog sled ride curtesy of HAWS Executive Director Lynn Olenik and her huskys.

This year I added walking HAWS adoptable dogs to the camp scheduled. This is an activity that the summer campers partake in, but it's a first for our winter camp. I came to the realization that many dog owners don't have the option to skip exercising their dogs just because the weater is cold and snowy. And this is a lesson that I wanted the kids to learn as well.

This decision actually was a win-win for me personally. I'm fostering a dog for HAWS named Jenna. About a year old with more energy than I know what to do with, and with an obsession for chasing a ball, it made sense to have the kids help me tire her out.

Jenna is very obliging -- she really doesn't care who throws the ball as long as she can chase it. And it has been really nice to have the kids throw the ball -- it's allowing my developing tennis elbow to heal before camp ends and I have to go back to throwing the ball again.

New Shelter, New Tours

No -- I didn't get a job at a different shelter. And the shelter isn't new -- although parts of it are. Our shelter is undergoing a renovation. This huge project started with the addition of 5,400 square feet to our building. We've been watching the building grow since June of this year.

Most of the new addition is up and much of it is ready to be used. Over the weekend we moved the cats into their new space, and our front office staff also moved to a new reception and office area. All of us have had to figure out the new layout.

Yesterday I conducted my first tour since the changes with Cub Scout Pack 5 -- and before they arrived I took my own tour (I had to know where I was going, after all!).

It certainly is exciting to see how beautiful the new space is, and the advantages there will be for our animals. The cats will no longer be able to hear the dogs barking, and will have their own laundry and kitchen areas. Our small animals are moving into a much bigger space - no more cramped quarters! And small dogs will have a room of their own so that they won't feel intimidated by the big dogs.

Right now we're still dealing with the construction as it moves into the existing building and remodeling starts. As I write this I'm listing to saws and pounding. But when it's completed by the time Winter Camp starts it will be well worth it.