Event brings Christmas fun to pets awaiting adoption
Dogs aren’t known for their ability to read, but they’re almost unrivalled at listening.
As a Christmas treat, local children got to read to the dogs and other animals at the Gilmer County Animal Shelter.
At the event, kids of all ages enjoyed meeting the dogs and cats at the shelter. Along with parents, they sat near the dogs and read them Christmas storybooks.
Although a program for kids to read with dogs has been part of GCAS programming in the past, it’s been a few years since the shelter has participated.
At first, the kennel echoed with the barking of excited dogs, but as they got used to the visitors, they quieted down to enjoy the storybooks.
Some kids wrote chalk messages and drew pictures for the prospective pets.
Having visitors is very helpful for GCAS’s dogs, Ellijay Paws in Need foster program and puppy enrichment program director Shannon Reed said.
“I love the kids filling all their stockings, and coloring stockings to put on the tree,” she said.
For domestic animals, it’s important to get human contact. Interacting with children and families keeps their social muscles limbered up.
Activities like these ensure that when someone looking to adopt an animal visits, the GCAS pets will be ready to make friends.
“It can get the dogs more interested and more comfortable with people, and it is soothing for a child to read to them, trying to calm them down a little bit,” Reed said.
It’s also helpful for the kids. They can learn how to behave around dogs. As some kids entered the room, the loud barking was startling, but they soon learned to be patient with the animals.
“If they can just sit and be calm and read to them, they understand the dogs respond better to that,” Reed said.
Fun activities like these can also lead to something more long-term, she said.
Any visit to the shelter offers a chance for a family to meet an animal that could one day be their beloved pet.
Whether a cute kitten, a playful puppy, a charming cat or a delightful dog, it sometimes takes just one meeting to fall in love.
“There’s so many great dogs,” Reed said. “We’ve had two adoptions today already.