a Aimal Helpers a a! a aa a a a a aa a a a a a a o a a o a aa a t a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a imals have always provided humas with food, clothig, ad trasportatio, but today they're also traied to help people with disabilities, fi.d people who are Iost, ad eve discover tumors. Ad, of course, aimals offer us compaioship,love, ad sheer joy.i this badge,look at how aimals help humas. (Researchers say the love of a aimal ca improve our emotioat health!) Steps 1. Explore the coectio betwee humas ad aimals 2. Fid out how aimals help keep people safe 3. Kow how aimals help people emotioally 4. Check out how aimals help people with disabilities 5. Look at how aimals might help us i the future Purpose Whe!'ve eared this badge, l'!! kow how aimals help humas, ad howto helpthem keep it up. ANIMAL I,..ot*. 1
TIPS BEFORE TAKEOFF Check out these orgaizatios for experts, iformatio, ad tours to help you ear this badge: b orgaizatios thattrai assistace aimals D aimalshelters P veteriary offices F aturecetersorzoos l dog-traiig facilities F wildlife-rehabilitatio or exploratio ceters lf you're iterested i a career workig with aimals, take this opportuity to do some etworkig! Ad wheever you're workig aroud aimals, always use cautio! IJIIf& VOCABUTART DOMESTICATION, or tamig, isthe process of makiga aimal species less "wild." Domestic aimals are comfortable sharig spacewith humas ad beigtraied bythem. STEP I Explore the coectio I betwee humars ad aimals The lives of humas ad other aimals have bee liked for thousads of years-ad the coectio keeps gettig stroger! chorces - Do one: f, Fid out how views of aimals have chated over the ceturies. People used to thik aimals had o feeligs, ad they did't always Iet tr cats ad dogs sleep o their beds! Fid ro examples of how ad why the huma-aimal coectio has chaged over time, the share what you've leared with frieds, classmates, or a group of youger girls. OR oatsaoataa6aaaaaa aaaaaa a aaaa aa aa aa Watch a documetary series o the huma-aimal coectio. The host a screeig party about it. Come up with fi.ve topics or questios to discuss. For istace: How are certai aimals, such as dogs ad cows, viewed ad treated i differet parts of the world? Why? \J r OR ca..a.a.aa.a..a.a.aaaaraaa aaa..aaa 'l' t Show how aimals helped at key poits i history. Where would humas be if we had't bega to use oxe to plow fields? What would have happeed iry76 if PauI Revere had't bee able to ride his horse? Pipoit five momets whe aimals took a role i huma history, the share oe-or all-i a skit or video show for frieds ad family. Fid photos of aimals helpig humas. The create a collage or screesaver to ispire you while you ear this badge! J
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STEP, Fid out how aimals a help keep people safe lf you're ever i dager, a aimal may truly be your best fried. Fire departmets still use caie uits to fid fire victims. Police work with dogs (ad sometimes pigs ad ferrets) to detect drugs, bombs, ad uexploded mies. Ad i disasters such as earthquakes, toradoes, floods, or explosios, aimals ofte help fid survivors. chotces-doone: tr tr Check out a safety team that uses aimals. You might visit a fire departmet, police departmet, or search-ad-rescue team. How do the aimals help them? What special skills do people eed to work with these aimals? OR a aaa aaa aaaa aa a a aaa aa a a aa a aa. aa a a aa Talk to a traier. Fid someoe who trais aimals to work with firefighters, police offi.cers, or search-ad-rescue teams. Which aimals are best for this kid of work? How are they traied? What kid of educatioal backgroud would you eed for this career? OR aaa a aa aoaa aa a aaaaaa aaaa aoa a.a a at aa Read stories about aimal heroes. Eve aimals that have't bee traied to save people ofte rise to the occasio. Cats have alerted sleepig families to house fires. Dogs have carried childre out of collapsig buildigs. Fid five aimal-hero stories ad share them with others. FoR MoRE FUN: Fid out if there are ay aimal heroes i your ow commuity. More to Explore.==:ili,..r. : : " -Preted you're a Girl Scout i r93o. l;4$gids did to ear their Lad Aimal :-:Eder badge, write a story about the have helped humas ;,w4]raimals i;=i agriculture, food, clothig, ad by i!,their heroism i peace ad war. s
STEP 2 Kowhowaimats v IU help people emotioally Studies show that just beig aroud a aimal ca reduce stress, lower blood pressure, ad make peoplefeel happier. Fid out more about the mood-boostigeffect of aimals! GHOICES - DOONE: tr Talktoavetorpsychologist. Fid out how carigfor a pet affects people's emotioal ad metal health, ad read some of the research beig doe i this area. How are the studies created? How ca someoe put the fidigs to use i her ow life? OR aa a a aa aaaa aa a aaa a aa a aa a aa aaaa a aa aa Visit a orgaizatio that uses aimals to help peopte emotioalty. For example, special horse-ridig programs help people with autism or post-traumatic stress disorder. Other orgaizatios take pets to seior ceters, rehab facilities, or hospitals. Fid out about the studies that were used to create these programs, how the aimals are traied, ad what voluteers have to kow before workig with the aimals. OR aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!terview at least five pet owers. Ask how their pet helps them feel \1/ better, ad capture their stories i writig, audio, or video. If you wat to share their stories o a blog or i a short fiim, get their permissio first..h,irals Helpig Each Other Sometimes aimal mothers care for orphaed ifats of aother species: o Shelter dogs have ursed shelter kittes. Goats have ursed foals Aimals sometimes fid compaioship i ulikely pairigs: Ajuveile polar bear made dailytrips across a ice floe to play with a chaied-up huskydog A houd dog is best frieds with a oraguta r Asake i a Japaese zoo became frieds withistead of eatig-its hamster luch Aimals have also bee kow to do extraordiary thigs to alert other aimals to-or rescue them from-dager: r A hippo took a impala from the jaws of a crocodile ad pulled it to shore r A dolphi twice attacked a pod of killer whales to protect a sea lio c A dog brought his ow dier, every day, to aother dog caught i a steel trap ANIMAL "'"'"' [ '
Assistace Aimals Orgaizatios For a complete list, check out The Delta Society's website. r AutismDogServices r GuideDogsfor theblid r Comprehesive PetTherapy I Puppies Behid Bars, lc. r AssistaceDogs lteratioal,lc. * CaieCompaiosfor ldepedece r DeltaSociety t Great Plais Assistace Dogs Foudatio. GuideHorse Foudatio a HelpisHads: Mokey Helpersforthe Disabled t NEADS(Dogsfor Deaf ad Disabled Americas) t Paws with a Cause 1l:' r9: *: {:. a t: gi {. i., a:l iri k-: -1-.. wr= a:,., ;..l I!{.. e {r:?:. *. *: t STEP deheek *ut hcme mffie*slaes -if help peo3sle k Etk dlsahiblties Most people kow about Seeig Eye dogs, which aretraied to help people who are visually impaired live idepedet lives. May other aimals, icludig mokeys, parrots, ad miiature horses, help people with physical disabilities. chotces - Do one: f, Talk to someoe who trais assistace aimals. It could be aimals that help people with disabilities or health coditios like visual or hearig impairmet, epilepsy, or paralysis. What's ivolved i traiig the aimal? Why is that aimal particularly suited to helpig people i a certai way? What kid of preparatio is eeded to go ito this type of career? OR g a a a * e 6 4 5 e e 6I e! e a e a a 5 a a a a. a s a a i [] Speak to someoe who has a assistace aima!. How has it chaged their life? How easy or difficult was it to lear how to work with the aimal? If you ca, meet the aimal, tool Foe Mo= FUN: Take video or audio of your iterview ad share it with other Girl Scouts. OR c e e a a a a a 6 a t a a s t a 6 e e e a e a + a 6.. t c a e Research the pros ad cos of traiig assistace aimals. As more kids of aimals are beig traied to help humas, some people are questioig how ad why the aimals are selected. Look ito differet sides of this issue, ad share your opiio i writig or artwork. Be a traier. Trai, or assist with the traiig, of a Seeig Eye dog or other assistace aimal. \ {
-) 5 :,"filfi1fi13iltfl?uture & scietists cotiue to work with aimats, hopig to fid ew ways to use their speciat skills. chotces- DooNE: Get a sese of differet aimals'uique skills ad abilities. Rats have a excellet sese of smell. pigeos possess pheomeal eyesight. Goldfish are experts at detectig water pollutio. Research the seses ad abilities of five aimals, ad create a chart comparig them with humas. Ca you thik of a way to someday trai a aimal to use those skills to help people? OR taaaa at aaaaaaaa aa! aaaaat aaaa.aaaaa Talk to a aimal expert at a zoo or uiversity. Ask about how researchers are fidig ew ad differet ways aimals may help humas i the future. For example, bees are beig traied to fid lad mies, rats are beig taught to detect tuberculosis, ad whales are beig tagged to help collect data from the ocea. Fid at least three more examples. OR aaaa aaaaaaaaaalaa.. a a oa ao a t aoa aaa., tr Practice beiga scietist. Coduct your ow observatio of a aimal's \-, behavior. whether you're watchig a raccoo i the backyard or your ow pet, trai your eye to otice details about the aimal-how it moves, eats, ad sleeps; how it reacts to humas;whe it seems tired or eergetic. Keep a log book ofyour observatios for a week. Ghildre Agaist Mies Childre Agaist Mies Program (CHAMPS) is a orgaizatio that lets kids i the U.S. "adopt" dogs that are traied to siff out uexploded mies i wartor coutries. A traied dog ca fid mies up to 1O times faster tha other tools used to fid them. Whe a dog fids a mie, it ca be safely removed. lt's ofte childre playig i mie fields who are harmed whe a hidde mie explodes, so this program lets kids help other kids. Fo Mor FUN: Ask a aimal expert or scietist to review your work ad talk to you about how a researcher could use your observatios to set up a experimet with that aimal. U
w..@ JJ.B ',/, a kt.4. S B\. le ffi i rs$ >-\e :l : Add the Badge toyour ]ourey Earig this badge calls upo you to fid a lot of differet i. iformatio about the coectios betwee aimals ad humas. That makes it a great opportuity to practice moitorig media by carefully cosiderig your sources ad usig all the other tips from ME dia.for example, ca you fid a story about aimals that's bee "dipped" through differet Iayers of media? How do you decide what to believe? Now that t've eared this badge, I ca give service by: o Makig a presetatio for youger girls about how aimals help us a Orgaizig a food drive for a local humae society. Voluteerigfor a orgaizatio that uses aimals to help people with physical or emotioal disabilities i, t: t. ;:: ri*atlir.tlti:atia,:'.r-:tfr:;=aj::i:i:::iita:,ii!.ri:rilf:rt1*:a"aj.:*ii3i:.tii:ii.i.ra:i:ir::ii::...,.