NATALBANY — Jennifer Matheny, an enthusiastic first-grade teacher at Midway Elementary School, was volunteering at a recent Pet Adoption Day for the Tangi Humane Society and became aware of the tremendous need.
Within a few days, she had coordinated a dog and cat food drive among all nine first-grade classes at Midway Elementary School.
The competition brought in more than 400 pounds of donated pet food.
“The response from the children is just overwhelming," said Tangi Humane Society President Randy Stegall. "They have made the largest group contribution of pet food in our chapter’s one year history. We are currently caring for 30 dogs and 16 feral cats, so this food will go a long way to help in our rescue efforts.”
Tangi Humane Society is nonprofit, all-volunteer, no-kill animal rescue organization. Once the rescued animals are fully rehabilitated and immunized, the group holds Pet Adoption Days to find the rescues new, loving homes.
A representative of Blue Bell Corp. donated an ice cream party for the two classes that raised the most pet food for the drive.
Also, Tangi Humane Society Coordinator Teri Gegenheimer arranged a visit to all nine first grade classes and engaged the children in a guessing game that taught them about proper animal nutrition, veterinary care, how to keep their pets safe from harm, and the importance of having an ID tag on their pet at all times.
“The students were really eager to participate, since many of them have pets at home,” Gegenheimer said. “I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the students were on the subject. It was really encouraging to see these young members of our community so eager to learn how to properly care for their pets.”
Daisy, a 3-month old white boxer-mix puppy with cute black spots, entertained the students.
Her mother, Dolly, was rescued by the Tangi Humane Society several months ago. She was running loose, eating garbage, was severely malnourished, and surprisingly pregnant with nine puppies, Stegall said. The Tangi Humane Society took her in, provided her food, shelter and extensive veterinary care.
However, due to the many health problems she had when she was found, Dolly died soon after giving birth and only two of the puppies survived.
“Having Daisy with us in each classroom for the students to meet, really reinforced the valuable lessons they learned today,” society volunteer Stew Gegenheimer said.
“I really feel that the kids learned some new, important aspects of pet care that they can now take home to share with their families," teacher Jennifer Harrelson said. "I know my students were very attentive and responsive to what was presented, and I was proud of their respectfulness.”
"It is amazing how well they listened," Matheny said. "I honestly feel that the information presented to these children will and has made an impact on the way they will treat and care for animals. Sharing Daisy's story gave the students a clear understanding as to why it is their responsibility to step up and be active members of the community.
“I am also so glad that the guessing game included the box of ‘visuals’ as I like to call them. It helped to not only keep the students' attention, but they could see exactly what you were talking about.”
The Stegalls especially thank the Gegenheimers for creating and presenting the program.
“We also thank Jen Matheny for making arrangements for us to come to the school," Randy Stegall said. "In the future, we hope to have more support and more volunteers to be able to continue teaching responsible ownership to the children of our community.”
The society is fully funded by donations from the community. It is a registered 501c3 charitable organization, and all donations are tax deductible.
All proceeds go to the feeding and care of rescued animals from the loal community.
They gladly accept large or small donations of money, pet food, crates, kennels, and blankets.
Individual and family memberships are available.
The contact information is P.O. Box 1743, Ponchatoula, LA 70454; 985-351-0181, or tangihumane@charter.net.
