Barks and Books

How do you calm a barking, excited dog who is confined to a kennel at the Aiken County Animal Shelter? The solution is really simple. Ask a group of children to come and read to them. FOTAS (Friends of the Animal Shelter) had this idea a few years ago in conjunction with the Aiken County Library to create the Dog Ears Reading Program. This program is also part of our Junior FOTAS outreach program, which teaches pet responsibility. It is a Win-Win for both the four-legged and two-legged participants.

Do you want to know how this is done? Walk with me into the pod of ten kennels of very excited dogs. They all watch as I lay down blankets for their guests to sit on when they arrive. The dogs are all extremely curious as to what I am doing. Soon, ten very eager boys and girls arrive with their book bags full of reading material. As the children and their parents enter the pod, there is much barking and excitement as everyone takes a spot in front of a dog. The children pull out their books and start to read to the dogs while the volunteers and the parents keep a watchful eye over the scene unfolding before their eyes. All of a sudden there is a quietness that occurs, and we all realize that the dogs are actually listening to the children reading to them. Jasmine, the cute black lab mix, leans against the kennel door so she can get as close as possible to Susie who is reading to her a book titled Sit, Stay, Love, and Paco, the handsome black and white terrier mix, lays on his blanket covered pallet with his bone and appears to drift off to sleep as Kevin is reading a book called Saving Sadie. The connection between the children and the dogs is truly magical. There is no other way to explain this phenomenon.

This reading program is just one of the ways that FOTAS works with The Aiken County Animal Shelter to promote the well-being of the dogs who find themselves in a shelter atmosphere through no fault of their own. Efforts like this help to lessen the stress of shelter life for these animals. By offering programs like this, it is our goal to place all of the adoptable animals that we can through exposure to the community.

Their lives are in our hands.

By Judi Sauer, FOTAS Volunteer