The Carthage Elementary School’s fourth grade “Bulldogs” B.A.R.K. for pets!
The school’s motto is:
Be responsible
Have an Awsome attitude
Be Respectful
Be Kind
After completing six pet responsibility sessions, presented by Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Education Program (PRC) volunteers, the students now know that B.A.R.K can also mean:
Be responsible for your pets
Always give your pet: food, water, shelter, exercise,
identification, veterinarian care and LOVE
Remember to spay and neuter your pets
Kindness to all animals is the responsible thing to do
On November 10th, the 4th grade students, their teachers (Ms. Carter and Ms. Maltsby) and principal, Ms. Warren, PRC volunteer teachers were joined by special guests Speuter, several families of Speuter Story winners, Lynn and Kevin Bain, K9 Foundation owners/trainers for a Pet Responsibility Celebration Assembly.
First, the students impressed everyone in attendance with their knowledge about what it means to be a responsible pet owner and the importance of spaying/neutering pets. During the lesson review, the students were reminded that in Lesson 5, ” I CAN” Be An Advocate For Animals, they learned about being advocates for pets. All of the students began their advocacy journey with their art work and pet responsibility messages on ‘Clinic Bags’. The Clinic Bags are used by the Sandhill Spay Neuter Veterinary Clinic to distribute post-procedure medications and instructions. Eleven students were recognized for their excellent Clinic Bag artwork and messages. They each received a drawing pad and colored pencils for their efforts.
Speuter, the PRC cat ‘mascot’, shared a poem about being abandoned and then rescued. Speuter stressed the importance of caring for pets, including spaying/neutering to prevent pet overpopulation.
As a further act of advocacy, the students were asked to write “Speuter” stories, illustrating the importance of spaying and neutering pets. Nine students were recognized for their excellent stories. Congratulations to: Jillian C.,Tucker P. Will T., Harper Leigh O., Nina C., Paitlyn H., Liam Nathaniel W., Shaelyn M., Emma B. Their families received a free spay/neuter for their pets. If their pets were already spayed/neutered, they automatically became advocates for another family whose pet needs to be spayed/neutered.
Special speakers, Lynn and Kevin Bain, owners of the K9 Foundation (located in Aberdeen), presented a very interesting and lively demonstration of how dogs are trained. They included their own dogs Sledge and Taz in the demonstration. The Bains train dogs for obedience, fun agility, nose work detection, security, tracking and sports. Ms. Bain is also a certified veterinary technician (CVT). She spoke to the students about her career as a CVT and stressed the importance of being responsible pet owners.
To remind the students of their pledge to be kind, responsible advocates for animals, they all signed a poster that will remain in the 4th grade hallway.
Each student received a goodie bag that included a PRC bookmark with important phone numbers, a PRC sticker, pencil, eraser, pencil sharpener and candy with a special meaning: Lifesaver, Hersheys Kiss, and Kit Kat.
The 4th grade teachers and Ms. Warren received a box of Thanksgiving themed cookies. The PRC team was very thankful for the opportunity to meet and present pet responsibility information to the Carthage students.
The Carthage 4th graders, with all their pet responsibility education, are officially advocates and can now B.A.R.K. for animals!
