BATON ROUGE — If summer camp slots for your kids are already filled up, Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) may still be an option. The shelter is hosting its summer camps for the fourth year in a row.
“We launched registration on Monday, March 2, and we had a huge rush of registrations come in, but we definitely still have plenty of spots open for almost every session,” said Companion Animal Alliance Director of Programs Collins Fairley. “We have 15 registration spots for each session, and then if they sell out we have a wait list. But we have some open spots for every session right now.”
CAA has been holding summer camps for kids since 2022. “It started off kind of small, trying to get interest from people in sending their kids to an animal shelter for summer camp,” Fairly said. “Last year though was a record-breaking year. We had the most registered campers. So we’re looking for this year to be just as exciting and popular with the community.”
Program breakdown and availability
CAA Summer Camp is broken down into three age groups:
- Camp Luv-a-Pet: Ages 7-8
- Camp Unleashed: Ages 9-11
- Camp Animal Allies: Ages 12-14 (sold out)
Camp Luv-a-Pet and Camp Unleashed have four sessions that each run a week. Camp Unleashed is sold out the week of July 6-10, and many other sessions only have a few remaining spots. Camp Animal Allies is new this year, and only has one three day workshop and is already sold out. Fairly said Camp Luv-a-Pet still has a good amount of spots open for each session.
The camps offer things like, games, crafts, guest speakers, and of course, hands-on experience with the animals. “Last year we had a few guest speakers come in,” Fairly said. “We had our LSU canine division come in and show off their their explosive sniffing dogs.”
“We definitely try to incorporate animal interactions every single day,” she continued. “What those animal interactions look like day to day changes because we are a shelter, so our population is always changing due to animals coming in and adoptions. We do our best to recognize behaviors that we think are going to do well taking a dog or a cat into a classroom of kids that are probably going to get a little high pitched and wiggly.”
“All dogs will always be on a leash when they’re interacting with the kids. We are constantly monitoring the dog’s body language, and if for any reason we feel like the dog is getting uncomfortable or anything, we’ll cut the time short,” Fairly said.
Campers get to interact with more than just cats and dogs. “We have livestock, we take in small mammals, and we take in reptiles,” Fairly continued. “So when we have those animals available, we try to incorporate them as well. We talk to them about why we take in all these things and what we do when we get them. Because adopting out a pig, it’s not the same as adopting out a dog or a cat.”
Adoption impact
If you enroll your kids in CAA Summer Camp, there’s a chance you’ll be adding a new member to your family. “Pretty much every weekly session, we’re either getting an adopter, or a foster home, which I honestly almost kind of love more,” Fairly said. “We really talk about all of our programs. About what it means to be a foster, what it means to be a volunteer, what it means to be a community advocate.”
“These kids are going home and when they sit down at the dinner table, they’re telling their parents about what they learned,” she said. “And let me tell you, they by the time Friday comes, they have worn them down!”
CAA Summer Camp might be a little out-of-the-box, but kids are taught valuable life lessons. “When you think about it, you’re not going and playing sports or going out of town to a lake,” Fairly said. “But it’s really important, because this is where it starts: with our community. These kids, if they learn how to properly respect animals and things like that, it is going to be transferred to their parents, their friends, their families, and they grow up with more empathy. So it’s a really important camp.”
For more information about the CAA Summer Camp and to register, click here.
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