Coastal Pet Rescue Spends Career Day Teaching Children to Be Kind to Animals

(Savannah, GA) - February 04, 2008

In the world of animal welfare, it is just as important to provide education as it is to provide rescue, which is why Coastal Pet Rescue’s leadership team often participate in career days with local schools.

On Friday, February 1st, Coastal Pet Rescue founder and president Lisa Scarbrough visited with the kindergarten classes at Jacob G. Smith Elementary School for career day. While Scarbrough’s job with the rescue is not a traditional career, it is a passion she enjoys sharing with youngsters.

“I think it makes a difference to be able to educate children early on how to properly treat animals,” says Scarbrough.

Scarbrough brought a special guest with her for the presentation, a nine-week old Golden Retriever puppy named Bailey, who served as the perfect model as Scarbrough taught the children how to properly approach and pet an animal.

“We teach them to never just walk or run up to a dog they don’t know and try to pet or hug it,” says Scarbrough. “We want children to have a fun experience with pets and avoid situations that could bring them harm.”

The students spent the rest of the session sharing stories about their pets at home and asking a few questions in between. But mostly, they just wanted to pet Bailey over and over again.

The students at Jacob G. Smith are surrounded by animal-loving faculty and staff, which makes Scarbrough’s time with the classes more productive.

“This is the only school we ever visit in which not one single student in the class ever shy away from our dogs,” says Scarbrough. “They understand what we are trying to teach because their teachers have already planted those thoughts with them.”

In fact, Jacob G. Smith students are so smitten with Coastal Pet Rescue their third grade classes have donated money to the organization for the past four years as a part of their annual service project.

Coastal Pet Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal rescue organization dedicated to saving the lives of homeless, abused and neglected dogs and cats in Savannah and surrounding areas. Founded in February 2003, Coastal Pet Rescue changes the lives of homeless pets in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham Counties through its foster home program and small capacity shelter, Camp Pawsawhile Retreat.

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