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Use Volunteers to Calm During Fireworks: article from HSUS

  • 1.  Use Volunteers to Calm During Fireworks: article from HSUS

    Posted 07-01-2021 11:31 AM

    Calming effect

    Volunteers help shelter pets ignore the boom-crackles

    ..."We thought, 'Well, why not solicit the public's help?'" says public information officer Jose Santiago, who posted a video request on Facebook five days before the holiday. "We had no idea what kind of response we were going to get, but within two to three days, we had more than 30,000 views on Facebook, and we started saying, 'This is going to be something.'"

    Between the shelter's two locations in the Phoenix area, about 200 people showed up on the holiday to read, sing and sit with the dogs and cats.

    "We had whole families sitting on blankets [with] their hands pressed against the kennels, and petting the dogs gently through the kennels, and it really, truly worked. "

    Calming effect
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    Calming effect
    It's no secret that most pets hate fireworks, and shelter pets are no exception. Prior to July Fourth this year, Maricopa County (Arizona) Animal Care and Control staffers brainstormed ways to alleviate their animals' stress during the pop-boom-sizzle of community fireworks displays.
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    #fireworks
    #Volunteers
    #stress
    ​​​
    #AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment
    #PeopleManagement

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    xo,
    Amber

    Amber Freiwald
    Maddie's Fund
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