Cause for Paws Cares, Inc.: Build-A-Bear Youth Humane Education Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

With the help of the Youth Humane Education Program Grant, we were able to purchase much-needed supplies such as brochures, give-away bags and fun animal-related items for children (pens, bracelets, kitty charms, balloons, fridge magnets and posters, crayons, and printed activity sheets and coloring books which focus on humane education).

This helped to educate the kids on how to approach dogs and what to do if a strange dog approaches them. We also partnered with our local animal control officer, who educated the kids to have a better understanding of responsible pet ownership and the importance of health care for their pets. Since the parents accompanied the children, they also learned some practical information on pet care, spay and neuter, microchipping and registration.

How many pets did this grant help?

Untold numbers. The goal was to educate and encourage the children to share the information they learned with other children and put it into practice.

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

We received an email from one of the parents of a child who attended one of our programs. She wanted to let us know how well her daughter was doing due to what she learned. Her daughter is very excited about taking responsibility now for feeding, grooming and walking the doggie (as well as picking up the little nuggets that it leaves) and using proper disposal methods. Her mom is very proud of her daughter and thanked us for helping her understand the importance of not only having a pet but taking responsibility for it.