That's a wrap on the Animal Art Creations and Animal Adventure HEY Camps season! These day camp experiences are part of the Humane Education for Youth (HEY) programming available to youth interested in learning more about animals, people, and ecosystem wellness. Campers had fun getting to know more about the shelter, dog and cat communication, and so much more.

One of our favorite camp activities was learning about healthy animal diets and then creating low-calorie treats for dogs using fresh fruit, yogurt and peanut butter (above, left). Campers also expressed their creativity through various crafts including painting portraits of their pets (above, center).

This year, the Animal Adventure campers engaged with four different presenters. We had the pleasure of welcoming Tracy from The Canine Messenger, Camila, the Queen of Compost, Britt from Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, and Veronica from the Bunny Brigade.  A huge thank you to them for all the information they shared about our favorite topic, animals!

Campers participated in a group pack walk with their families and dogs from our shelter (above, left). They received tips about dog behavior and training from Tracy from The Canine Messenger (above, center) and learned more about humane investigation from HSVC's Humane Investigations Director, Kendra King (above, right). 

Camila, the Queen of Compost (above) attempted camp one day to teach our young animal lovers about the benefits of composting. She brought a variety of supplies, including worms to aid in our composting efforts!

Our friend Britt from Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (above) also participated in camp this year! She brought stuffed animals with various "injuries" for campers to diagnose and treat. 

Last but certainly not least, Veronica from Ventura County Animal Service's Bunny Brigade (above) treated our campers to an afternoon of bunny fun! Adoptable rabbits Marco and Cassie made the trek to the shelter to interact with our young animal lovers. Thank you to all our fantastic partners for helping make this year's camp the best yet!

Although HSVC’s on-site summer camp 2024 programming is done, HEY will still offer summer camp experiences per request to various youth organizations. If you would like more information on summer programming, please contact me, Angie Chupek Sagilani, at [email protected].