A group of about 20 boy scouts from Troop 774 visited
Pima Animal Care Center on May 7 to walk dogs and contribute toward PACC’s “Paws for Reading” program.
The scouts, ages 11-15, are all members of
Boy Scout Troop 744, which is chartered by Pantano Christian Church, 1755 S. Houghton Road. Their visit to PACC comes as part of the Boy Scouts’ commitment to community service. While this visit didn’t count toward a merit badge, the hours they spent at the shelter fulfilled one of their community serviceprojects.
“This is a great treat to our pets who look forward to playing outdoors and interacting with
people,”said Justin Gallick,director for community engagement at PACC. “We’re thrilled that they’ve selected PACC to do their community service and look forward to more events like this one.”
In addition to walking dogs, the scouts also read to pets as part of PACC’s “Paws for Reading” program, an activity recently incorporated at the shelter to help with pet behavior. Reading contributes positively to pet behavior as it allows pets to calm down and become more comfortable around people.
“High energy dogs will often calm down while being read to,” said Jenny Kading, PACC’s outreach coordinator. “The sound of reading provides comfort, which increases the likelihood that our little shy animals get adopted because they become more comfortable approaching the front of the kennel and begin to show interest in people.”
This reading program also benefits kids by providing a nonjudgmental reading parter while also increasing their empathy toward animals when seeing the positive effect that reading has on them.
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