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player ready...Many unique children’s programs are offered during the summer months, including the recent Animal Careers Camp at Humane Indiana in Munster.
Kids explored various animal careers, enjoyed a shelter walk-through, participated in one-on-one time with some of the shelter residents, and took part in various craft projects.
“This particular camp has been offered for four years at our Munster location,” said Nicole Harmon, director of Humane Indiana Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Valparaiso. “The goal is to introduce to our campers the different roles that our staff play within the shelter, as well as what animal husbandry careers are available to them as they expand their passion for animals.”
The focus was on animal behavior, wildlife rehabilitation, kennel management, veterinary medicine, and animal control.
Harmon’s co-worker Emma Brewer developed the program, which also provided campers with take-home lessons on good manners towards domestic pets and how they can help care for their own pets.
One recent group of campers took part in making bandanas for some of the shelter dogs. They fashioned them from various colors of cloth, using markers to write messages.
“You can get creative, write whatever comes to mind,” Brewer said, as she handed out supplies. “An example could be, ‘Please Adopt Me’ or ‘I’m good with kids’. We’ll put them on backwards so the message will be on the dogs’ backs.”
Brother and sister team Sean Matthews, 9, and Maggie Matthews, 6, were contemplating their messages as Sean commented about his pet dog Briggs.
“We got him from here (Humane Indiana) and he’s a good dog,” he said. “Having a pet is a little work, but it’s really fun too.’
Ideas for the camp activities were taken from various Humane Education platforms such as ASPCA and the Association for Professional Humane Educators.
Humane Indiana, formerly known as The Hammond Humane Society, is currently celebrating 80 years in existence.
From a small building located on Columbia Avenue in Hammond in 1941, the organization has grown exponentially over the years.
That initial site could not accommodate a large amount of animals, compared to the current tally of the Munster shelter, which houses more than 10,000 dogs and cats annually.
In 2015, the state-of-the-art Munster shelter, with an attached clinic, purchased the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Valparaiso, hence the name change to Humane Indiana.
For more information about Humane Indiana, call (219) 922-3811 or (219) 299-8027.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.