Be Kind and Show Respect to All Living Things

It is so important to teach young children to be kind and respectful of all living things.  The past several years my kindergarten class has collected items for the local animal shelter.  This year we collected towels, blankets, bleach, laundry detergent, dish detergent and treats for the Jackson County SPCA.  This is a small shelter in North Alabama.

And you ask why this shelter?  This is where I found my sweet Ruby on the Internet last spring.  This is what she looked like.  She had been shaven except for her face.  She had heart worms, hook worms, ear infections in both ears and a respiratory infection.  She had been turned in to the shelter as a stray.  No wonder she looked terrified in the photo.

While I was waiting for her to go through the treatment so I could adopt her, the tornadoes blew through Alabama.  There was an EF5 that went through the area where she was.  So I drove up to see if the shelter was still there and to check on her.  All was well and two weeks later, I brought her home.  Needless to say I spent most of my summer at the vet with her.  But now I can say she is in excellent health and as happy and secure as can be.  

And now she looks like this.  

Because of the excellent care she got from Laurie Shaw, the shelter's owner, I wanted this year to take what we collected to her.  So I drove with a carload of items to the shelter and surprised Laurie.  She was so excited to get all the great supplies from the children.  And she could not believe how much better Ruby looks.  

Laurie sent all of  the children activity books called Pets Are Family Too.  This is a great activity book that teaches respect of all living things.  Ir was a resource for the children to take home.  

Dr. Richardson sent information about our project to the Birmingham News.  There was an article about the project in the Wednesday, November 23,2011 edition along with a photo of Ruby and Laurie Shaw.  

To all who contributed, thanks for all you help!!