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By Kristen Zambo (photo by Judy Fidkowski/Special to the Star)
Children at Walsh School have the opportunity to help their furry friends in need and spread a little TLC before the harsh winds ofwinter set in.In conjunction with national School Safety Week, Monday through Friday has been designated "Tender Loving Care Animal Shelter and Kindness and Responsibility Week." Walsh School is sponsoring a collection drive all week, the proceeds of which will be given to the T.L.C. Animal Shelter in Homer Township to help the organization maintain its level of operations throughout the winter.
Walsh pupils, their parents or any interested community members can make a monetary contribution or donate cans of dog and cat food during lunch periods throughout the week, according to Principal Joyce Kleinaitis.
"What better way to get kids involved right away" in their community, she said. "That makes the community stronger. When they get older they can continue (community service) and take pride in their community". She said students who would like to donate money can donate as little as a dime or quarter.
"Not all families are able to contribute. Anyone who can will be much appreciated. Usually children have loose change, she said.
According to Kleinaitis, she would like to raise enough money to tide the shelter over until the next collection drive. If this first collection goes well, she said she would like to host two more for the shelter this year.
While assistant principal at Homer Junior High, pupils usually raised $1,500 per year, reaching $300 last winter, she added.
Janine Carter, T.L.C. shelter coordinator, said the shelter needs $150,000 a year to keep its door open.
"That's pretty minimal," she said. "It's so hard to raise money, especially for animals. Animals don't have anybody to tell about their problems." Cats and dogs in the shelter are homeless and were abused and/or abandoned.
The shelter currently is housing about 16 dogs, 30 cats and kittens and right now, one puppy, but the staff of volunteers can accommodate more puppies, Carter said. "We get about 20 calls a week (from people whose) cats do not use the litter box," she said. "Anytime an animal's lost, abandoned (or) in need it's bad, but the winter months are especially bad and that's when the shelter funds are the lowest." According to Carter, dogs will often be abandoned when they reach four to six months old. If they were neglected at home with no one to play with, they are rowdy. Now the family owns a wild animal, which is running through the house because no one will play with it, she said. If the animal has not been trained to be obedient, it will be more difficult to handle, she added.
In these situations, people often abandon their pets because they simply do not want the hassle. "If you take it, you take care of it. They can't fend for themselves, especially in winter," Carter said. Kindness and responsibility will be the school themes throughout the week, and teachers and staff will incorporate these characteristics into class work, Kleinaitis said.
Children will hear and write stories about being kind to others, especially animals. Kleinaitis herself will visit classrooms to read to the children.
"With the research I've done, it shows being mean to animals leads to violence in general. We have already had some bullying in kindergarten," she said. "We hope this leads to them making good decisions about their own behavior."
Parent volunteers will monitor the collection process during lunch hour. Kleinaitis said each child who donates money or food for the shelter will receive a sticker -- probably ofa cat or dog, she added. The sticker will help remind each child to be kind to animals, she said.
"During my first year of teaching, I overheard some children talking about shooting the eyes out of birds with BBs," she said.
Although she was being evaluated on her teaching skills, she stopped the class to explain why the children should be kind to animals and how their actions were harmful. She said unkind actions against pets do not stop with children, such as the case of the Milford, ILL., mayor who killed a puppy with a shovel. According to newspaper reports, the mayor, James Cook, said he was trying to shoo the puppy away from workers at a grain elevator, so he hit it with a shovel.
He added when he saw how badly he injured the animal, he felt the kindest thing to do was put it out of its misery, clubbing the puppy to death.
Kleinaitis said children as young as Walsh pupils are very loving and she wants to foster feelings of care for animals.
Some Walsh children received their pets from T.L.C., which she said is one reason she chose to contribute to the shelter.
"We are a family during the day for children and want to do active modeling for them," she added. Many pets are abandoned during the winter, shortly after the holidays, she said. These pets were likely given as presents, she added.
Carter said, "Never get a pet as a surprise gift for somebody. Usually it's best for people to pick out their own pet when the time is ready. It's just too much to deal with at this time of year, especially on Christmas Day when so much activity is occurring." According to Carter, it takes generally a week or so for the newness to wear off and people start getting pretty tired of their new pet-- especially if the pet was purchased with the stipulation it was the child's responsibility, and the child has been slacking off in the care. "Children should be responsible, but can't be 100 percent. Mom or dad has to make sure it has food and water," she said.
If the child is preoccupied with a toy or video game, it cannot remain without these necessities until junior remembers, she added. "It has to be a family effort," Carter said. "Far too many are thrown out or passed around like candy, and they end up in the lap of abuse." She said people have adopted three-legged cats and dogs, a blind puppy last year and even older animals.
T.L.C. does euthanize some animals, although there is no time limit on how long an animal can stay until it is adopted. Those euthanized are considered nonadoptable. "If you can't place these, and its a no-kill facility, you'd have to close the doors to the ones who are adoptable", she said.