Volunteer to Read to the Puppies this Summer

Are you looking for a fun and free activity to add to your summer calendar? How does reading to dogs, cats, and rabbits sound?

I took the girls and their bestie to participate in the Humane Society of Tampa Bay’s Paws for Literacy summer reading program and it was awesome. Every year as school ends, I worry about the “summer slide” that can happen from being out of school for over two months. Ella absolutely hates reading and I struggle to keep her engaged with books over the summer. I was researching summer library programs and scholastic reading challenges and I found this HSTB volunteer program for kids.  

I decided to bring Adriana too since she is an incoming Kindergartener and can benefit from the practice. Once we arrived, we checked in at the front desk and they sent us to the Humane Education Department where the girls picked up their supplies. Each reader receives a stool and a few books, or you can bring books from home. Readers also get a bag of treats for the animals for being good listeners and a goody bag for themselves.

We decided to start with the dogs. There were only three puppies that day one for each young reader. Adriana is only five and isn’t reading quite yet, but she improvised and described what was happening in each picture. Next up was the run with the larger dogs this is the area that pulls at my heartstrings. So many dogs in kennels that are strays, relinquished because the owner was moving, difficulty with behavior training, etc.

These sweet dogs are well taken care of at the shelter while they wait patiently for their forever home. The Paws for Literacy Program helps socialize the dogs and keep them calm in their run. It didn’t take long before our eyes started welling up because we wanted to reuse them all. Ella and I fell in love with a four-year-old dog named Hope who only had three legs. If I had room for one more puppy, she would be in my lap right now. Hope sat down next to Ella and listened very attentively to the book she was reading and was generously rewarded for good behavior with lots of treats.

After visiting EVERY dog, we decided it was time to read to the kittens. This is where we lost focus a bit. I promise we had good intentions, but the Humane Society has free-roaming kitten rooms. This means you walk in and cuddly babies are playing all around you. I think one sentence was uttered and then the books were set aside. Ella and Adriana fell in love again with a white kitten named Chief. I wanted him too he reminded me of my cat Toby that I adopted from the shelter 20 years ago. He was by far the coolest and most popular kitty in the room with a line of potential adopters waiting for him.

We were almost among them as my girls begged me to take him home. I finally caved and called their Dad to see if he was on board and that was a hard “NO”. Our inn is full he said, and we must leave Chief for the next family. Before we knew it, we spent three hours at the shelter. The kids did some reading and we loved on every animal there. It was a win-win.

This is a free activity that the Humane Society of Tampa Bay offers every week on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:45 pm to 4:00 pm. Volunteers must be five and older to participate. I plan to take the kids a few more times this summer but I cannot guarantee we will leave empty-handed next time. For more information visit humanesocietyoftampabay.org.