PAHS is calling upon more community organizations to participate in our education programs in Mountain View. We have worked with the Mountain View Police Department in the past and continue to rely on officers to introduce students to K-9 officers and their training and duties. At present, PAHS is building on our existing partnership with SVACA (Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority) to strengthen and expand two of our educational programs, Kiddies 2 Kitties and Critter Club. Look for more news at a later date about this partnership.
On Thursday, January 26, we welcomed SVACA’s Outreach Coordinator, Janet Alexander, to our Critter Club session at Beyond the Bell at Theuerkauf Elementary in Mountain View. Janet and Teegan, a rescued kitten currently residing at SVACA where she is up for adoption, joined PAHS presenters—Education Advisor Patty Hurley, Office Assistant and cat rescuer and community cat feeder Jaye Bergen, and Education Manager Leonor Delgado, who also feeds and helps community cats—in our presentation about pet and community cats.
Two groups of second- and third-grade students learned about: best practices in caring for pet cats; the body language cats use and sounds cats make to communicate with their people and others; ways in which PAHS, SVACA, and local rescue groups work together to help save the lives of abandoned cats and care for feral cats living in our communities; and the vital importance of spay-neuter in controlling the number of homeless cats and kittens.
Patty, Jaye, and Leonor from PAHS concentrated on teaching about pet and community cats and spay-neuter. Janet from SVACA underscored the importance of spay-neuter (Teegan was recently spayed—this led to a very productive reinforcing discussion) as well as talked about the role of the shelter at SVACA in Mountain View and other local municipalities.
We believe that for the students the highlight of the session was the final activity in which everyone had the opportunity to meet Teegan “in purrson” and gently pet her as well as have their questions about her answered.
