Public Service Announcements

Back in the end of November I published a post about the public service announcement project the Critter Club kids were doing.  At that time we had two finished PSAs, and I promised to post the other three when they were finished.

They actually were finished shortly after that, but what with the holidays and planning and running HAWS Kids 'N Critters Winter Camp I completely forgot.  Last night one of the club members reminded me.  So here they are -- enjoy!


Adopt an Adult Cat


Do Your Research First


Don't Pet Unfamiliar Dogs

Last week a friend of mine lost her dog for almost 24 hours.  Initially we were sure she'd be back or we'd find her any minute, but as time went on without even a sighting we started to think the worst. 

It was a horrible experience for my friends and those of us who cared for Dixie and her owners.  But the most amazing thing was just how many people came out in 30 degree weather after dark for hours to help look in the fields and woods surrounding the area where Dixie was last seen.  Not only did friends come out to help, but people who were only casual acquaintances also showed up. 

Those of us who love our dogs and think of them as our family members can understand just how devastating it would be to lose one and not know if she'd dead or alive, injured, frightened, cold or stolen.  We can all relate to how chilling it would be to face the fact that your dog might never be found alive, or might never be found at all.  And the uncertainty would be even worse than finding that your dog had died. 

Luckily Dixie did come back the following afternoon.  She was cold, frightened, scratched up and dehydrated after a night  in the woods.  We will never know where she was or what she was doing during the time she was missing, but it's a miracle to have her back safe.  And  knowing that so many people care enough to help a fellow dog owner in a time when they are in need is another miracle. 

Public Service Announcement

Each semester we try to have the Critter Club kids do some kind of a project.  Critter Club is a program at HAWS for middle school students that helps them get involved in HAWS through educational meetings on Thursday evenings, and volunteer work on the weekends.

This semester I decided to have them create video Public Service Announcements, which meant I had to do some research on them myself.  PSAs are advertising to the public with the goal of raising awareness, or changing behavior or attitudes towards a social issues.  It is not advertising a product or promoting a company or organizations.

I also learned about what goes into a good ad and passed this information onto the club members.  A good PSA is 30 to 60 seconds in length, usually has a tag line, and narrows it's focus onto one simple concept.  A PSA that gives out too much information is one that isn't going to be remembered.

I also showed the kids some videos of both PSAs and regular commercials.  It was a great trip down memory lane to show the PSA with the Native American Indian crying over pollution and the frying egg showing what your brain on drugs looks like.  The commercials I showed were more current and I was able to point out the short duration of shots within a given commercial -- nowadays individual shots last about 2-3 seconds at the most.  Apparently modern viewers have a really short attention span!

The kids broke up into 5 groups, chose their topics, wrote scripts and created story boards.  Then they got to work shooting video, and went through the process of editing it.  Two of the groups finished their PSAs last night and those are displayed here.  I'll post the other three when they're done.

Five Things You Probably Never Knew about Animal Shelters

1) Animal Shelters are individual organizations; there isn't an umbrella organization that creates policy or that a shelter has to answer to.  

 "We adopted him from your _______ location."  At HAWS we hear things like this all the time. 
People are often amazed when we tell them that HAWS is our own organization and we aren't affiliated with other shelters. 

While some shelters have a variety of campuses within a general area, there is no national organization that oversees all of us.  And while we may occasionally work with other shelters on projects, exchange ideas with one another, and sometimes transfer animals, we aren't the same organization at all. 


2) Shelters can be government run or a private non-profit. 

It seems to be a common perception that animal shelters are government run entities that are run off of a tax base.  While some shelters are (usually called "animal control" facilities), many shelters are not.  It really depends on the specific facility.

HAWS is a non-profit organization that is run by a member elected board of directors.  The majority of our funds are obtained through donations and fundraising efforts.  The only money we get from the tax base is by contracting out our services  to many Waukesha County municipalities to handle such things as stray animals and holding animals that have been confiscated from their owners through allegations of neglect or abuse. 


3) Shelters don't necessarily have any authority to investigate neglect or abuse cases. 

 An animal control officer or humane officer is the person, besides a police officer, who would investigate allegations of neglect or abuse to an animal.  These are people who have been specifically trained to know the law as it pertains to animal welfare, and are trained in animal care and behavior.   They are also endowed with legal authority to conduct investigations, issue citations and file charges.

Because HAWS is a privately run non-profit we are not a government agency.  The people who investigate neglect and abuse cases in Waukesha County are Humane Officers employed by the county.  HAWS works closely with these officers since we're a holding facility for animals removed from homes through legal action, and also a bite case quarantine facility.  But if we get calls from people wanting to report neglect or abuse of animals in the community we refer them to Waukesha County. 


4) Not all shelters take in stray animals. 

Government run shelters will take in strays since as an animal control facility that is a large part of their purpose.  Non-profit animal shelters vary depending on their policies and the contracts they may have with area municipalities.

Shelters that chose to be what's called in the animal welfare industry "Limited Intake", take in only those animals that they have space for and that they feel they can place.  They usually don't offer stray services because to do so could mean that their intake would exceed what they're capable of housing.

The policy of an open admission shelter is to take in any unwanted animal from their community no matter how adoptable or unadoptable it is, what physical condition it is in, or how friendly or aggressive it may be.  HAWS is  run as an "Open Admission" shelter and part of our mission is to provide stray services to municipalities that want to contract with us.




5) Some shelters only take in dogs and cats, others take in a variety of animals.  

HAWS is lucky to have the space and resources to be a truly open admission shelter and we take in just about anything that can be kept as a pet.  We always have rabbits, and almost always have guinea pigs.  Additionally many times you can find birds, small rodents and reptiles at HAWS looking for their forever home!

"Never work with children or animals."

"Never work with children or animals" is the famous quote from W.C. Fields.   He was referring to child and animal actors in a film setting and it was inferred that they would steal the scene. 

With my job in humane education it's impossible to avoid working with either one.  I will admit, however, that working with kids and animals can lead to unpredictable situations and my job requires that I go with the flow and try to find teachable moments when unintended situations come up.

The other afternoon I was at the after-school program at Blair Elementary School visiting with the kindergarten through 3rd graders in the school's gym/auditorium.  I did an activity with them showing  how quickly cats can multiply when you start with one unspayed cat.  Fiona, an adoptable HAWS cat, was in the carrier next to me as I worked with the kids and periodically let out mournful meows that told us just how unhappy she was with her confinement.

I always get a bit nervous taking cats to off-site programs because they are very unpredictable.  A cat who is seemingly outgoing and friendly at the shelter can behave very shut down and stressed in a different environment.  An unlike small animals that are easy to confine, cats are so athletic that they can easily get away if loose.

Before I took Fiona out of her carrier I told the kids that she might jump out of the circle they were sitting in, and if that happened they were to be completely quiet, stay put and allow one of the adults to go get Fiona.

I wasn't surprised when Fiona left the circle of kids, walked over to the wall and started walking the perimeter of the room.  It's very common for cats to do this in new environments as a way to ensure there isn't anything dangerous in the area.  I calmly walked behind her allowing her to check things out.  I really wasn't concerned until we came to the part of the room that contained the stage.  Unfortunately I didn't notice until it was too late that one of the sliding doors to the chair rack storage area under the stage was open by a few inches.  That's all it took; in a flash Fiona dashed in the opening and was gone.

The children were amazingly quiet and well behaved while the  adults crowded around the 3 foot high opening and shined a flashlight all the way back into the storage area.  After we pulled the chair carts out, we finally located Fiona huddled way in the back 20 feet away from us. 

Realizing there wasn't any way she'd come out on her own, I sighed, got down on my hands and knees, and crawled through what was probably 15 years worth of dust to retrieve her.

During this whole procedure the kids were still sitting in their circle, being very quiet and respectful.  I explained that Fiona was just a bit frightened and that's why she wanted to hide.   None of the kids complained that they didn't get enough time with the cat, and they all thanked me for coming as I left.

There's a reason...

I didn't grow up with dogs, although I had always wanted one.  One of my first memories is of when I was 3 or 4 years old and sitting on the lap of my grandmother singing a made-up song about a dog.  I had to wait until I was an adult to get my first dog, a sheltie that I purchased from a breeder.

Not knowing anything about dogs, of course I thought I was very knowledgeable.  I wanted to get a purebred because since I was getting a puppy I needed to know it would grow up to be a small dog appropriate for apartment living.  And I was getting a puppy so that I could raise it to be the dog I wanted.  I was so naive.

I was shocked when my puppy ended up pushing my buttons, and behaving in ways I didn't know how to deal with.  I look back at that time with amusement, and yet I think it's a very common situation that most new dog owners go through. 

"There's a reason they gave her up", someone recently told me as they were relating some of the behavior problems a recently adopted dog was giving a mutual friend of ours.  "People don't give up a good dog...", she continued.

Unfortunately the belief that all animals at rescues and shelters have serious behavior or temperament issues is still prevalent.  People who aren't "in the business" can't comprehend that someone would give up a well behaved pet or a pet with a good temperament.   While I wouldn't have dreamed of giving Chester up, many people in the same situation I was in do.  Sometimes it's because their lives are too busy and they don't have time to deal with an ill-mannered, needing to be trained dog.  Sometimes it's because they don't have the money or don't want to spend money on attending training classes. 

As a matter of fact, there are a lot of reasons that people surrender or rehome dogs that have nothing to do with serious behavior problems.  Working at a shelter I know that common reasons are allergies, landlord issues, the owner has passed away, not enough time, not enough money, etc.

While it is true that most dogs in shelters haven't had any training, it's generally a matter of needing family manners training and easily resolved.  This is the same type of training that anyone getting a puppy should commit to.  In some ways training an older dog is easier because they've got better bladder and bowel control, have gotten through much of their intense chewing phase, and  have a longer attention span.

I made plenty of mistakes raising Chester, but I stood by him until his death at the age of eleven.  Chester helped me as I learned about dog training, behavior and became invested in animal welfare.  But he also taught me that had I not stuck with him, had I turned him into a shelter he would have been a really great dog that needed a home.  Just like most dogs in shelters and rescues.

Shutterbug Camp

Camp may have been over for a week and a half, however it's still very fresh on my mind despite the fact that the kids are now back in school.

The last week of Kids 'N Critters Day Camp was our annual Shutterbug Camp in which the kids use their creativity and cameras to document their experience here at HAWS.  We really encouraged the campers to explore lighting, different angles, and composition.  Additionally each of the kids took a photograph of an adoptable animal that we used on our website to promote adoption.  Below is some of the work that the campers did during their week at HAWS.