Animal Adoption
Authors: Dhruv Patel
Faculty Supervisor: Anelise Farris, Ph.D.
Community Partner: Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia
Abstract:
My project was to essentially “adopt” a dog to make them more comfortable with their environment. Living in a kennel with other dogs who are aggressive and loud makes for an environment that induces stress for the dogs. My project’s aim was to comfort a dog by taking them for regular walks and food to form a bond. This helps reduce stress and overall increases happiness and energy. I decided to adopt a dog named Jill. She was given up for adoption because her owners were moving and unfortunately couldn’t take her with them. She was fairly new to the kennel so I thought she needed comforting the most. I visited Jill every couple days and after a few visits it was evident every time I came around she would get really excited. This project has made me realize that the environment heavily effects mental health of dogs just like humans. Dogs new to the kennel have a hard time adjusting to the loud environment and because of this they are more likely suffer from mental illness like depression which accompanies less energy and playfulness. Healthy dogs means healthy dog owner. Dogs in the community give their owners a reason to get outside, almost forcing a walk everyday. This improves the owners health and maintains the dog’s youthful energy. This project connected the readings we did in class with volunteer work and helped strengthen my ability to understand literature that I read. service-learning bonds class work with volunteering which helps students that prefer a different approach to learning.
