Napa Humane offers a free virtual class to teach children how to be safe around dogs as part of the organization’s Humane Education program. In just 20-30 minutes, kids will learn the basics of canine behavior and body language and how to pet and snuggle with furry friends safely. The family-friendly educational session will be led by Napa Humane’s Program Director, Lisa Alexander, and broadcast via Facebook Live at 1 pm on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Napa Humane has provided similar in-person classes to Napa County elementary school classrooms for many years; this virtual event is the slightly condensed, pandemic edition. Napa County students may recognize Sampson, Napa Humane’s stuffed dog, from the classroom presentations as he assists Lisa in demonstrating the proper way to pet a dog. While this class is intended for elementary school-aged children, parents and older family members are welcome to participate. Napa Humane staff will be monitoring the chat/comment function to ensure everyone can get their dog bite questions answered.
“Nearly all childhood dog bites are preventable,” says Lisa Alexander, Program Director of Napa Humane. “Teaching kids how to interact safely with dogs dramatically reduces their risk of getting bitten, and the dog’s risk of being branded ‘a biter.’ It’s one of those situations where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
In non-pandemic times, Napa Humane’s Humane Education Program provides free classroom presentations to elementary school kids, using multimedia teaching tools to explain animal body language, behavior, and situations to avoid, while still keeping kids engaged and entertained. The program also teaches kids about responsible pet care, so they can raise healthy, well-socialized pets and grow up to be caring and compassionate citizens of the world. Napa Humane encourages everyone in our community to learn how to reduce the incidence of biting.
To sign up or Napa Humane’s profile page on Facebook.