By Anna Albrecht (SAHS Volunteer)
In today’s world, it seems that the empathetic path is the one less taken. It is almost easier to stay close minded and move through the world with an uncaring attitude – but that is not a fate inherent to humanity. Empathy can be taught, and empathy can be learned.
The San Antonio Humane Society offers a glittering opportunity for children to have a first taste of empathetic thinking through the lens of adopting pets from shelters: Camp Humane.
Camp Humane, offered every summer in two-day or five-day sessions, is open to children from grades 1-12, allowing anyone interested to become a camper. It is the only program of its kind offered by an animal shelter for children in the San Antonio area. The week of July 8, I sat in with the campers to observe.
With a rich educational foundation, Camp Humane offers a myriad of opportunities for open-thinking among children, and it strives to teach campers to “advocate for themselves and others, to be a voice for those that don’t have one,” said Hannah Oliviero, a 3 season counselor at Camp Humane.
The curriculum is centered around “A Pet’s Journey” and takes campers through an enthusiastically interactive experience of what it’s like for an animal to be brought in, taken care of, and eventually adopted from SAHS.
“We want to teach them to think so openly that they can be empathetic and act accordingly,” added Jenna Elizondo, Director of Camp Humane.
Every day at Camp focuses itself on a different element of animal care at SAHS. There is one presentation every day, filled with enriching, detailed insight about animal behavior, shelter work, and pet care. While the camp is based on education, it provides children with an extensively hands-on experience of what the reality of an animal shelter looks like.
One activity involves campers pairing up and receiving a folder containing a detailed story of a pet that is going through the intake process at SAHS. The campers then have to fill out an intake form that mimics the real one, and perform a faux medical examination on the imaginary pets.
This allows for insight into a process that mostly adults take part in – children would otherwise have no direct participation in medical examinations or intake forms. At a young and curious age, campers get a taste of the hard work that happens behind the scenes of an animal shelter. Children learn that animals need to be taken care of extensively and should not be adopted on a whim.
The second part of the activity involves creativity. Each pairing gets a stuffed animal to represent the animal described in the folder, and they get to name and identify the animal, filling out a kennel card that would be on display in the shelter.
This activity teaches children about the unique nature of every pet up for adoption at SAHS. It is easy to get caught up in the physical appeal of animals when looking to adopt, but campers get to understand firsthand how much care and attention is necessary before an animal can find its forever home. Raw empathy is the beating heart of this activity, and the campers passionately partake in it.
On the final day, campers get to make posters for animals actively up for adoption at SAHS, introducing the importance of creativity in PR and advertising at the shelter.
Squeals of utter excitement ring out from the group of campers heading to hang their posters up at the kennel of the animal they have advertised for. It is genuine passion that motivates these young people to want to help these animals.
On days 2 and 4 of this session, there was time set aside for campers to go into the shelter – both the Puppy Palace and Kitty Cottage – and read books to the young animals. This activity is one that actually doubles as a service project that other young kids take part in throughout the year, Elizondo explained. The campers are overjoyed to just see the animals, and there is time every day dedicated to socialization.
“Hanging out with the cats and dogs is my favorite. I love pets. They’re amazing,” said Martha, a two-time camper.
Eve, a three-time camper attending her second session this summer, echoed a similar statement when asked about what keeps her coming back to Camp.
“I like the people and the animals. It’s a good combination,” said Eve.
Overall, Camp Humane is a highly educational, highly inspiring place to be,and it has immediate effects on the campers involved. It is not uncommon to see kids jotting down the names of pets they want to adopt.
“The goal is to empower children to be kind to one another,” said Elizondo, explaining the mission of Camp Humane in her own words, “to be kind to animals, to be responsible pet owners and responsible citizens.”
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