Troop 1407 Lends a Hand to Their Furry Friends
February 11, 2023
WOOLWICH—It isn’t just Girl Scouts that enjoy a good cookie every now and again—our furry friends love them just the same! Troop 1407 paid a visit to Rescue Charlie’s Friends animal shelter in Woolwich to learn about pet needs, the rescue system, and how to repurpose materials to make recycled dog toys.
“All of our girls love animals, so they jumped at the chance to do anything they could with the rescue,” said Troop Leader Anna Nelson. According to Anna, the excursion helped their Daisies work towards their “Use Resources Wisely” petal and Brownies achieve their pet badges.
When the girls arrived, they were greeted right away with a massive welcome sign from the shelter and a tour of the space.
Throughout the day, girls had the opportunity to ask questions and gain meaningful insight from shelter employees about the benefits of properly caring for animals and an in-depth overview of how a dog rescue facility operates. During the program, the girls also got to try their hand at making dog tug toys from old T-shirts!
“I learned that a lot of things you might just throw away can actually be made into something else that can be used. So, before you put something into the trash, think about that. I also learned how the dog rescue takes care of the dogs and finds them homes. It is a lot of work, and it costs a lot of money that people donate to them,” said Clara, a Daisy Girl Scout from Troop 1407.
Rescue Charlie’s Friends typically brings in between 50 and 100 dogs every six weeks from poor home situations or kill shelters. Luckily, Rescue Charlie’s Friends is so good at what they do, they had already placed all their animals with loving new families by the time troop 1407 arrived!
The girls did however get the chance to meet a couple of volunteer pups with physical and behavioral issues during their visit, and they’ve already been invited back in a few weeks when the shelter fills up again with a new batch of rescues.
But of course, it wouldn’t be a Girl Scout trip without a little cookie business.
“The rescue set up a table for the girls to take cookie orders from shelter visitors and volunteers while we were there,” said Anna.
Not only was the trip a wonderful way for Troop 1407 to learn about how they can contribute to improving animal care, but Anna says it was also an example of how a simple conversation can lead to a wonderful learning experience.
“This was a great lesson for us leaders in both community and opportunity. One of our troop leaders is neighbors with someone who works with the rescue. Just a short conversation with a neighbor led to such a rewarding experience for the troop,” said Anna.
