CRITTER CRIER. Letters from Lacey 14,919. Lacey Freeman Director of Volunteer Services VOLUNTEER HOURS. Humane Society of Broward County

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1 Humane Society of Broward County CRITTER CRIER VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER 2016 Letters from Lacey Show a little LOVE this year for our 27th Annual Walk for the Animals!!! We look forward to this event every year, and this year is no exception. If you would like to be a part of this wonderful event, there are a wide variety of ways you can help. First and foremost, help raise money for the animals!!! I have started the Awesome Volunteers pack. Register today to start your own fundraising webpage and join the fun by joining the pack. More information on how to register can be found on page 2. Also, if you d like to take part in all of the action on March 18th, there are still plenty of volunteer positions available on the day of the Walk. A list and descriptions of available positions can be found on page 4. Lacey Freeman Director of Volunteer Services VOLUNTEER HOURS FISCAL YEAR OCT 1, 2016 to DECEMBER 31, 2016 Inside this issue Volunteer Pack Getting to Know Korean Dogs..7 Important Dates 2/14/2017: PitStop Valentine s 2/25/2017: Bunny Basics 3/18/2017: Walk for the Animals 14,919

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5 Did You Know? We are the Education Department! Did you Know Educating the public about kindness and respect to animals is part of the HSBC s mission. The Education Department is made up of five educators who have a combined total of 60 years of humane education and shelter experience: Caroline Crane, Carrie Neff, Darlene Feldman, Katie Tutt, and Rachel Howard. Education s programs made more than $150,000 in revenue for the shelter in 2016, as well as brought thousands of people to the shelter who might not otherwise have visited. The Education Department offers some of the most sought-after youth programs in Broward County. Between our camps, Daisy s Kids Club, Helping Hounds, and the Teen Club, hundreds of families vie to enroll their children in one of the 500 or so spaces in our Education programs each year. The children involved in our programs will be tomorrow s pet parents and animal advocates. It has been shown that children who are taught kindness and compassion for animals grow up to be kinder, more compassionate adults. We need and appreciate the support, cooperation, patience, and understanding from staff members and volunteers while we conduct our Education programs! Have no doubt that the safety and comfort of the shelter animals comes first to the Education Department, and we hope you feel proud to be part of an organization that is making the world a kinder place for animals. Getting To Know Susan Angus is the New Assistant Animal Care Supervisor. On April 6 th, she will have been with the HSBC for 2 years. I m thankful for all the opportunities that the HSBC has presented me so far and I look forward to whatever happens next. I m sure it ll be exciting! When asked what s the best part of working at the Humane Society? I love getting to come to work every day and be greeted by all our resident animals. I especially love to see them get adopted and move on to their forever homes. It s rewarding to know that we make a difference in the animal s lives while they re here and that we also improve the lives of the families that get to take them home! What don t we know about you? I m a proud University of Florida graduate! GO GATORS! I m also a pet parent to three cats and two dogs One of my dogs, Milly, was adopted from the shelter in August of 2015.

6 Cat PAL Clicker Training In an effort to offer continued environmental enrichment to the animals entrusted to our care we have started to clicker train some of the cats. The community cat rooms offer a perfect environment for this type of training and our cat PALs have begun this process with attending a workshop this past weekend. The workshop reviewed the process of clicker training by free shaping behaviors. This is going to be a bit different than the way we work with the dogs. Cats can be trickier to motivate and we have to be patient and let the cat offer behaviors they are comfortable with. One of the behaviors we are shaping is a greeting behavior. In our culture we often shake hands when greeting one another. Today, that has developed into other gestures such as the ever popular fist bump. Cats will often head butt or rub against an out stretched hand. By shaping this behavior and rewarding with a food treat we are creating a non-threatening and even humorous (to us humans) greeting gesture. The volunteers that are participating seem excited to try this new technique with the kitties and are having fun interacting with them. It is our hope that the cats will enjoy it as much as we do. The 5 th Annual Big Dog Men s Invitational Golf Tournament is scheduled for Thursday, April 6 th, 2017 at Fort Lauderdale County Club. We are looking for volunteers that are available to work from 10:15 AM until 5:30 PM on the day of the tournament. Players and sponsors are also needed. For more information visit our website humanebroward.com/events/bigdoggolf/. No golf experience is required, just come and join the fun! If you have any questions please contact Jillian at jbarbosa@hsbroward.com or (954)

7 Transport of the South Korean Dogs to HSBC A group of dogs rescued from a dog meat farm in Wonju, South Korea by Humane Society International arrived in Florida the week of January 16th. Six Florida shelters, including the Humane Society of Broward County, picked up the dogs in Vero Beach and then transported them back to their facilities for adoption. HSI has been in South Korea since December Since then, the organization has made agreements with six dog meat farmers for permanent closure of their farms and rescued 770 dogs which have been transported overseas for placement. With the help of HSI, the farmers transitioned into humane, alternative businesses, such as crop-growing or scrap metal. Since their arrival at the shelter, the 10 dogs have each spent time with Stephanie Rodgers our behavior and training supervisor. Stephanie has evaluated each of them and created profiles that will help us to place each of them in a home that can meet each of their needs. There were several of the dogs that seemed to possibly have been pets prior to ending up at the dog meat farm because they were social, sought out human attention, played with toys and were housebroken. There are a couple that while shy, do seek human contact, will allow themselves to be pet for a short period of time, and are okay walking on a leash. We also received a couple that are extremely shy, do not want to interact socially with people, and do not appear to be housebroken. With the exception of the 4 dogs that are the most unsocial of the group, all of the others were checked medically, given their vaccinations and made ready for the adoption floor on the Monday after their arrival. The remaining 4 will need a little more time before they can move into adoptions, they also will be started on prescription medication to help with their anxiety and fear. We are so happy and proud to have been asked by Humane Society International to assist with this transfer of dogs from South Korea to the US. Beyond helping with these 10 dogs, we see this as a great opportunity to expose and educate our staff, volunteers, and the community to the circumstances these animals came from and to remember how lucky we are as an organization and a community.

8 Whoever said you can t buy love has not been to the Humane Society of Broward County. You can find the guy or gal of your dreams at the Adopt a Sweetheart event on February There will be variety of four-legged blonds, brunettes and redheads all looking for their perfect Valentine. Adopt any pet six months of age or older and Cupid has arranged for the adoption fee to be half price. Regular adoption fees for pets over six months are $100 for dogs, $30 for cats and $50 for rabbits. In addition, on Saturday the 11 th there will be a bake sale from 10:00 3:00 with all types of delectable treats for people and pets. Feeling lucky? There will be fabulous cat and dog baskets that you can purchase raffle tickets for what better way to spoil your new friend! Our goal is to help people and animals FIND LOVE over Valentine s weekend. If you would like to bake or participate in set up please see Caroline in the Education Department she can let you know what we need. May cupid strike many times!

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14 Bunny Basics Saturday, February 25, :30am-11:30am Humane Society of Broward County Did you know that rabbits can be trained to use a litter box? Do you know that pet rabbits can live 10 or more years? Hop on over and learn about rabbit care and behavior at Bunny Basics at the Humane Society of Broward County. Bunny Basics is held semi-monthly. Topics you will learn about include: proper housing, socialization, exercise, introducing a second rabbit, feeding, bunny-proofing, and more. A MUST for new rabbit parents! If you have any questions regarding Bunny Basics, please call Mission Statement Our Mission: Humane Society of Broward County 2070 Griffin Road Fort Lauderdale FL Phone: The Humane Society of Broward County provides shelter, aid, and responsible adoptions to animals entrusted to our care, and educates the community about respect and kindness to all animals. Follow us on social media for what s barking and purring at the shelter. Facebook.com/browardhumane Twitter.com/humanebroward Instagram.com/hsbroward