Amazing Animals Summer Camp - An Update from the Counselors

Here is an update on Amazing Animals Summer Camp from camp counselors Sniffy (Noreena) and Spaz (Nick):

Tomorrow may be the last day of our current camp session, but there are still many sessions to come, and many more kids who are waiting to have some fun at Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV)! The past several days have gone by very quickly. One of the best parts of camp for the kids, based on what they keep talking about, was playing with HSSV’s adoptable kittens. We had all sat in circles in small groups and allowed a few kittens to play and meet us within the enclosed space. Everyone, after the lesson on cat body language, was attentive and considerate of the kittens’ needs—whether they needed a few minutes to rest, or simply some more time to get acquainted before letting themselves be pet and held. It was great to see teamwork and cooperation in passing around the toys, and a gentle shielding of any gaps between each other if a kitten tried to squeeze out of the circle! We counselors have come to the conclusion that interaction with animals brings out the best of these campers.

Presentations from Sulphur Creek Nature Center and an independent snake expert captured everyone’s attention. Sulphur Creek’s large owl stared imploringly back into its audience’s wide eyes, and they all gasped as the snake presenter lifted up his blue-tongued skink to his cheek for a “kiss” (which was, in fact, just the animal’s way of “tasting the air” with its tongue). We were impressed by several campers in particular that day. One girl named Ria seemed to know, or at least have a reasonably good guess to, the answer to every question that was asked about reptiles. Then, although she was visibly a little nervous, still volunteered to hold a snake—and offered again for another snake! Hands-on experiences truly enhanced the learning experience for the campers this week.

But all good things must come to an end, and today we participated again in our camp tradition of closing circle. However, after mention that Friday would be the last day, one camper named Rachel raised her voice and said, “I never want this camp to end!” Personally, that gives any of us who help manage this camp a sound sense of satisfaction. We are proud to be part of HSSV, that is clearly doing things right!

For more information about our Amazing Animals Summer Camp, please visit our website at http://www.hssv.org/education_camp.html.

Summer Camp Counselors seeing education at work

by Bridget Keenan, Director of Development


When I give tours of our new Animal Community Center, I love to spend time in our Education Center, explaining to our “tourists” that Education is a powerful way to really make a difference regarding pet homelessness in the future of Santa Clara County. Teach a child why a dog barks or why a cat scratches, and they will bring this information home to their families and help their parents understand why the puppy needs training, or why the cat needs a scratching post, so mom and dad don’t get so frustrated with the pet that they are surrendered to a shelter. Teach children that animals are individual beings — that they can make the animal feel loved or feel hurt, happy or sad, safe or scared — and you are teaching children how to be responsible pet owners, and ultimately responsible members of society.

For four weeks this summer at our “Amazing Animals Summer Camp”, we enjoyed a flow of about 75 children between the ages of 6 and 12, who each for one week came to our Animal Community Center and learned about dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, tarantulas, frogs, and more. There were nearly 20 teenage camp counselors who worked with the children; these counselors may have learned more about animals and children than even their younger charges did! After their summer here, our counselors shared their favorite experiences.


Adam Donald reported: “Another activity was about the overpopulation of cats. During this activity, the campers were able to discover why there were so many cats in Santa Clara County and learned ways to prevent this….the campers [learned] about a variety of different animals and that all animals are valuable.”

Sarah De Vargas shared, “The children were also focused on how to take care of animals because they wanted to make sure that they were treating pets right and that they were being great caretakers of their animals.”

And Sammi Mielke wrote, “My favorite activity that we did was making habitat boxes and it seemed like the kids liked it, too…Although this was a fun activity, it also taught all the kids what animals needed to survive. A lot of the necessities for the animals turned out to be the same for us.”

Our campers and counselors learned important lessons that will stay with them their entire lives. I like to think that, because of our incredible Education Programs, we are much closer than ever toward ending pet homelessness in our community.

Animal Welfare and Boys

I’m always amazed at the ratio of girls to boys in Educational programs at Humane Society Silicon Valley. It’s not a problem, just an interesting factoid of note. Many more girls than boys volunteer and get involved with animals, but when the boys are impacted by what they learn and connect it with compassion, I’m always very impressed. I love that boys learn to be more nurturing and gentle when they come to our programs – and I just know that translates to a kinder and gentler world.

Adam, who was a camp counselor at HSSV’s summer camp stood out to me this year. The summer camp program was a joyful thing to see here on the HSSV campus – kids running around in bright orange camp t-shirts, learning, having a ton of fun, playing games and creating different projects

(see Jesse and his artwork) – and most important, becoming compassionate future community members who connect with something larger than themselves.

We asked Adam to share what was special to him at summer camp this year. When I found out that he had originally been required to complete community service through his high school, I was especially excited about what he ultimately shared about his experience during the summer. He wanted to come back to be a counselor again – and not as a requirement for school – he was inspired! I’ll share a few paragraphs of his letter, but highlights for me were that he most valued forming a bond with the campers and that camp gave him an opportunity to be a role model for other boys in the program.

This is from Adam:

While volunteering, the funniest moments were those that happened when the kids were in the opening circle. The kids were so involved and excited about the songs, and that involvement always brought a smile to my face. There was such creativity in those songs – one camper performed it “Valley Girl” style and another performed it astronaut style. Those versions made me laugh the hardest.

As a camp counselor, the most important thing for me is forming a bond with the campers. This happened for me within a matter of hours! My most memorable camper was Josiah. He absolutely adored me from the minute I sat down to color a picture with him. He had so much energy while jumping around on me and playing with a beach ball. He was always in good spirits. He loved to introduce new games for the other campers. I will always remember him and the relationship we formed during those five days.

The camp involved a lot of fun activities that taught the kids about animals while still keeping it interesting. We made dog food and had a competition to see whose dog food was the best (Buster was our taste-tester and admittedly, he seemed to pretty much like ALL food). It taught the kids what type of food is good for animals and highlighted which foods are bad, especially in large quantities.

The kids also learned to train with the Director of Education's dog, Buzz, a CGC certified pitbull adopted from Bad Rap. They also learned to always ask the pet owner before petting an animal. They learned about cats and why there are so many in Santa Clara County and how to help. They also got to see presentations by the Youth Science Institute and Happy Hollow Zoo so that they could, learn which animals actually make appropriate pets.