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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesFEW APPLY FOR FREE HUMANE SOCIETY PUBLICATION

FEW APPLY FOR FREE HUMANE SOCIETY PUBLICATION

The St. Thomas Humane Society has a gift for all elementary school students – all the students have to do is get their teachers to sign up for "Kind News," a monthly publication of the Humane Society of the U.S. The paper is free to all elementary schools.
The monthly four-page student newspaper helps instill in children kindness to people, animals and the earth. Each issue is filled with colorful stories (in color), about cats, puppies, pancake tortoises, turtles, dik-diks (yes, dik-diks), hippos, sunbirds, or even a Tanzanian Nyala.
The paper also has puzzles, comics, Earth Tips, quizzes, news from other "Kind News" school groups, and projects. And this isn't all. There's "Dr. Kind" whom you can write with questions about pets, and riddles, too. Question: Which side of the chicken has the most feathers? Answer: The outside, silly.
Lisa Walker, spokesperson for the Humane Society, said "the problem we're having is getting the teachers to sign up for it." The turnover in teachers presents a problem, as the teachers don't meet their replacements and the communication is lost. Walker has sent forms to all the schools, and she said the response could be much better.
"The paper costs the shelter $24 per subscription, but it's free to the schools," Walker said. The paper is paid from funds left the Society by the late St. Thomas resident Ethel Brinkerhoff, whose legacy requires that funds be used for educational purposes only. The subscription includes 32 copies of "Kind News," each month and is published at three levels: primary (grades K-2), junior (grades 3-4) and senior (grades 5-6).
Walker said the subscription forms must be submitted by May 31 for the subscriptions to start in September. However, applicants can also phone the Humane Society at (340) 775-0599 and ask to have the form faxed. The form can then be returned by fax, as well.
The offer is good for all St. Thomas and St. John schools.
On a different note, Walker said the Spay Day program the shelter conducted in February was a howling success. The program simply required pet owners to fill out a contract and bring in their pets for free spaying or neutering by April 30. Though the deadline has passed, Walker said the contracts would still be honored for those who had made arrangements for later service. She happily noted that 166 pets had been altered in the program, which is a lot of potential homeless puppies and kittens.

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