Humane Education Outreach Team
Our Director of Humane Education, Christy Sablan, is joined by a fabulous cast of characters! Each help Christy relay a host of animal welfare topics to kids - of all ages - in our local communities!
You can learn more about PAHS humane education outreach team below, and if you want to meet the cast of characters in person just contact Christy at christy.sablan@paloaltohumane.org.
About Felicity
Thanks to her new adoptive parents, twelve year old Felicity is playing like she did when she was a feisty kitten! Life was not always this pleasant, though. Soon after kittenhood her people parents lost their jobs and had to move, and sadly instead of taking her with them they decided to leave her, abandoning her on the property. Felicity was always an indoor kitty so being alone and outside was really very scary. She didn’t have access to food or fresh water and had never learned outdoor skills to know how to deal with other animals like feral cats, dogs, raccoons and possums. However, she managed as best she could for many years until one day she was hit by a car and left on the side of the road. Happily a man, a retired police officer and longtime cat parent, saw her and took her to his local veterinarian where they operated to fix her broken hip and gave her lots of TLC. After she was healed, the man and his wife decided to adopt her and now she lives with cat buddies Seymore and Clive and a slobbery bulldog named Rutherford. Raring to use her rediscovered energy for good (or should we say “reowing” to use!), Felicity was the first animal to sign up with PAHS as part of their humane education outreach team. Now going on two years, she is thrilled with her daytime job and that she gets to see kids in the community as much as she does. Yeah, Felicity!
Bio care of Erin Scott.
About Harold
This gorgeous hunk of man was not always so gorgeous. Rescued from a foie gras (that’s a kind of food) production facility that was shut down, Harold used to be in pretty bad shape. He suffered from something called hepatic lipidosis or “fatty liver disease”. Yikes! He could also barely walk because of it. Double Yikes! But thanks to complaints from the community about the intense cruelty to the animals there, the production facility was forced to close and (followed by many cheers and “phews!”) Harold was taken to a sanctuary to heal and live a natural life with sun, friends, and kind treatment. Over the months that followed his health improved….slowly but surely. It was at about this time that PAHS came to the sanctuary seeking to find a new member for its humane education outreach team. When Harold heard wind that Palo Alto Humane Society was coming and what they were doing, he went out of his way to make sure that his fluffy feathers were noticed! He knew his past experiences would provide the depth needed to be an educational representative. And, the puppet theatre acting gig –“forget about it”!
Bio care of Erin Scott.
About Chuck
Chuck is a four year old rooster that lives happily with his adoptive family on their small farm. Chuck’s life wasn’t always a strut on the farm. His mother hatched her first eggs, a clutch of ten (one which included Chuck of course), when she was still very young. She had wonderful white and golden-red hued feathers -- everyone says that Chuck received his handsome coloration from her! Roosters can usually be differentiated from hens by their striking plumage and by the development of a comb and spurs on their legs. Chuck is very proud of his plumage which he struts daily for his hens at the farm! However, his mom wasn’t so lucky. She wasn’t able to go outside and feel fresh sunshine, peck for food in the grass, or breathe clean air. She was an egg laying hen on a factory farm, and not treated very well. Chuck was very fortunate that as an egg he was chosen to hatch, as most eggs aren’t fertilized and are instead sold for food. As a young chick, he was sold to a nearby farmer who gave him all that he needed to survive, but not enough to allow him to be happy. He didn’t have much room to roam, and wasn’t kept in the cleanest conditions. One day when the latch on his cage was left partly unlocked, he took his chance and broke free. He wiggled out of a hole in a nearby fence and was gone! He survived on his own for nearly two weeks before being found, lonely, cold, tired, and hungry. Chuck wasn’t looking so well. He was taken to the nearest shelter, and with some time, food, medication, and love, he was back to himself again. He was adopted two months later by a family looking for the right rooster to rule the roost on their farm. Chuck has finally found his home! He loves to educate children about the better treatment of chickens on factory farms, and really enjoys being a part of the Humane Education Outreach Team.
Bio care of Christy Wishon.
About Bertha
Bertha is a fun loving bunny who likes to stop and smell the flowers. Bertha was born early in the summer along with her three other brothers and sisters. She loved her siblings very much! They would all hop alongside each other in the grass during the day and snuggle together at night when going to bed. She was the second to last to be born, and a very tiny bunny with long floppy ears. The people parents of the bunnies, The Smiths, had received Bertha’s mom and dad as a gift to their children for the holidays, but no one had stressed the importance of spaying and neutering to them. Just when it crossed their minds, a litter of bunnies was born. With great luck, the people parents were able to find adoptive homes for almost all of the little bunnies (not an easy task nowadays with less people adopting and more animals being born), and got them all spayed and neutered. However, The Smiths could not find a home for Bertha, so she had to stay. One sunny afternoon, The Smith’s youngest child, Bryson, a lad of four, was playing with Bertha and accidently picked her up the wrong way and dropped her. They had to take poor Bertha to the emergency veterinary clinic, but couldn’t really afford to. The Vet recommended that homes with small children do not have rabbits as pets because the children aren’t really old enough to properly care for and handle them. Thankfully, the Vet generously donated the treatment necessary to make Bertha feel like herself again, and found new adoptive homes for Bertha and her parents. The Smiths agreed that overall this would be best for the rabbits. Bertha and her family are so grateful that they did not go to the shelter. The rabbits were adopted by loving families with older children, and now spend their days rolling in the grass and nibbling on hay. Bertha also enjoys taking breaks to come out and talk about all the wonderful things you can do to help animals!
Bio care of Christy Wishon.
About Henry
Henry was a rambunctious puppy! He loved to chase balls and wrestle with anyone who was a willing participant. Henry lived with a nice couple who bought him from a local pet store when he was just little puppy. Before they knew it Henry went from a cute little puppy to a BIG dog with a lot of energy. Unfortunately, this nice couple grew frustrated and not so nice with the amount of time and energy Henry required. They were also unprepared by how much responsibility, training and commitment it took to take care of our big rambunctious furry friend. After having a few potty accidents and chewing on the leg of the dining room table. Henry was sent outside to the backyard. Instead of eating, sleeping, and spending time inside of the house with his family Henry was chained to a stake in the ground outside. Being chained to the stake was to keep him from digging holes in the yard, this was yelled to Henry after he tried to pull himself away from the stake. Henry was never taken for walks, to the park or played with in the backyard that he was confined to by himself. Some nights he would get some dry kibble tossed into his bowl and maybe some water, but not enough to fill his hungry tummy. All day and night Henry was alone and it was up to him to keep himself warm without any shelter in the winter or to keep himself cool in the hot sun during the summer. Dogs are a pack animal, which means they need a family, and don’t do well when there isn’t a family to share their lives. Henry would cry because he felt so very sad and lonely. It was because of those cries that a group of children passing by Henry’s house found him. The children went around the back of the house and peered through the fence to investigate the cries, where they found sad Henry. They called their local animal shelter and told them what they had found. The animal shelter took Henry from the backyard and to their shelter. One of the children who helped to rescue Henry visited him every day. She took him for walks, played with him, fed him, cleaned up after him, and gave him lots of hugs. Once the animal shelter said that Henry was ready to be adopted by the right family, this child and her family took him home with them. Henry now happily lives with his new family where he plays ball regularly and receives more love than he had ever known existed.
Bio care of Christy Wishon.
About Carlotta
Beautiful Carlotta the cow started her life on a dairy farm. She was kept in horrible conditions along with all of the other dairy cows on this farm, also known as a factory farm where the animals are treated as objects rather than living beings with feelings. Because Carlotta was a dairy cow she was made to give birth to a calf every year, calves born to dairy cows are separated from their mothers immediately after birth. The ones that are born girls are raised to replace older dairy cows in the milking herd, the calves that are born boys, and because they will never produce milk, are raised and slaughtered for beef and veal. For Carlotta, this was very traumatic to experience every year. Then one day Carlotta’s life changed dramatically for the better. The local farm animal sanctuary came to investigate the dairy farm because of a complaint they received from a nice man who had made a delivery to the dairy farm. He saw how the cows were living and how no one on the farm seemed to care about the welfare of the cows, this saddened him and he knew it was wrong. He knows that cows are gentle by nature and form strong bonds with each other that are vital to their well being. When the kind people from the farm animal sanctuary went inside the barn they were very upset to find Carlotta and her friends standing on top of nearly two feet of manure, with most of the cows tethered inside their small stalls. All of the cows had badly overgrown hooves which made it very uncomfortable and painful to stand. Thanks to this compassionate gentleman all of the cows were rescued from the dairy farm, they received medical attention and a safe loving place to live. Thankfully, the dairy farm was closed down by the local authorities. Carlotta is now happily enjoying her days roaming the lush rolling hills of the farm sanctuary with her closest friends Elsa and Howie.
Bio care of Christy Wishon.
About Petunia
“Fat, stupid, ugly.” Not this pig! Anyone who knows Petunia, the Palo Alto Humane Society’s “Humane Education Pig,” knows that pigs are interesting, strong and sculpted, and very appreciative of their food. They are as intelligent as dogs. And their babies, the piglets, are so cute! Petunia loves to teach people about pigs. She teaches that pigs are misunderstood and that when they are misunderstood, they are not treated right. Pigs became friends with people just 8,000 years ago, so they are still similar in many ways to their wild cousins. Like wild pigs, barnyard pigs prefer living in groups of friends and relatives. They roam and root incessantly in the ground in search of food. Petunia teaches that pigs suffer when kept alone in tiny pens on industrial farms, where they are not allowed to stand or turn around, or root in the soil as they so enjoy – in other words, when they cannot live according to their nature. Petunia talks about the movie Babe, and the scene where the tiny piglets are taken too soon from their mother and hauled away in a truck. She cries a little at this but cheers up when Farmer Hoggett begins to understand and respect the nature of his pink pig friend. A new law in California will improve the conditions of pigs on industrial farms. This happened because people cared. That’s the good news Petunia teaches. She invites you to become a person who cares and helps create a kinder world for animals on the farm.
Bio care of Carole Hyde.
About Hurricane
Hurricane loves to run with the wind, tossing his head in a nod to his wild past. Horses, or – if you like the Latin name – Equus, were wild for millions of years and became friends with people just 7,000 years ago. Hurricane is a modern horse, so when he is not out feeling his oats, he is in the barn eating them. Hurricane is a very lucky horse. He is well cared for. He is loved, fed, given a comfortable and safe place in a barn, and has a wonderful pasture for exercise. He doesn’t have to wear heavy shoes on his wild and free legs. Unlike his grandfather Black Beauty, from long ago, Hurricane has never suffered from abuse, hard labor, or the whip. And unlike many horses today, he will never face a long and frightening journey to a faraway place to end up on someone’s dinner plate. Hurricane joined the Palo Alto Humane Society’s education team when he was just a colt. As a PAHS “Humane Education Horse,” he helps people learn about the magnificence of his species, about the care a horse needs, and about the friendship a horse will offer in return. No other animal except the dog has helped people more. In fact, his smaller relative, the pony, was named for the ancient goddess “Epona” – so valued was this beautiful and spirited animal. Hurricane gives you an impatient whinny and stomp of his hoof. He is waiting for you to invite him to your classroom for a fun and informational puppet presentation on kindness to animals.
Bio care of Carole Hyde.