Animal Advocates
Camp Fur-Ever Friends, Week Two Wrap-Up
What an absolutely incredible week it was for Tails of Hope – Rutland County’s Humane Society! Camp Fur-ever Friends ran July 20th through 24th right here at the shelter, brought back after 15 years.
Week Two was Animal Advocates, for ages 10 to 12, and it was led by our camp coordinator Lauren Escott. Lauren is our Development Coordinator and started with us at the beginning of May — and she made this camp an absolutely amazing experience for our campers, she started from scratch and planned and organized every single detail.
The Week in Review
Campers celebrated every animal adoption alongside our staff, got a firsthand look at shelter work by job shadowing for a day, and even got to suggest names that our intake coordinator chose for incoming strays. Between craft time spent making adoption posters and happy hours in the kitten room.
Throughout the week, we were lucky to have some wonderful and knowledgeable professionals join us:
- Dr. Rob Macpherson and groomer Candy, of Rutland Veterinary Clinic & Surgical Center, Our vet team joined us to talk about the importance of bringing pets in for regular checkups, sharing fun stories about x-rays — including having kids guess what objects showed up inside! Our groomer also joined in, and at the kids’ request, talked about which dog breeds tend to be easier or harder to groom.
- Kelly McDermott-Burns of HeartSong Reiki joined us to talk about animal Reiki, educating campers on how to approach animals with awareness, kindness, and calm energy. She also taught them a breathing exercise, which they got to practice hands-on in the kitten room.
- Mei Mei Brown, founder of Brandon FCAP, talked about the work she does trapping, spaying/neutering, and returning feral cats to their communities so they stop reproducing. She brought along Tarzan, a former feral cat she rescued. Tarzan came to us with a serious leg wound; after months of care — including laser treatments from Rutland Veterinary Clinic — his leg ultimately had to be amputated. Today he’s an absolute sweetheart living the good tripod life at Mei Mei’s house. He was a star and soaked up all the love from the kids.
- Als Allan, owner of Mountainside Mutts, one of our camp sponsors, joined us to talk about the socialization of young dogs, the different life stages of canine development, and how to read a dog’s body language.
Making Memories
Campers celebrated right alongside our staff every time an animal found its forever home this week. They were in the thick of it and got a firsthand look at what it takes to run a shelter by job shadowing our staff for a day. They loved it so much, they asked for more the next day! One of the week’s biggest highlights was getting to suggest names for incoming strays, then watching our intake coordinator choose names from their suggestions. Campers also made adoption posters for specific animals they’d met and hoped to help find their forever homes. Each day was filled with plenty of happy hours in the kitten room. A standout part of the week was hearing kids come back day after day sharing what they’d learned with their parents. That’s exactly the kind of impact this camp aims to have — lessons that don’t just stay at camp, but go home with campers and carry forward into the future.
Thank You
None of this would have been possible without our generous sponsors, our volunteers, and our incredible staff — who kept the shelter’s daily operations running (never a dull moment!) while also making room for a full week of camp. The energy in the building all week was electric.
Thank you to all the camp families for trusting us with your kiddos, and to everyone who helped make this week possible. We hope to see these campers back again next year — and more than that, we hope we’ve helped raise the next generation of responsible, compassionate pet owners, adopters, volunteers, fosters, and donors.
Stay tuned for next year!
A Message from Camp Coordinator Lauren Escott
One of my favorite moments each day was watching the campers’ faces light up every time we shared that an animal had been adopted. Their genuine excitement told me everything I needed to know — we have a whole group of future compassionate pet owners in the making.
 The kids were completely intrigued by all the different roles it takes to run a shelter, and getting to job shadow our staff for a day was a huge hit. They loved it so much they asked for more time with staff the very next day! But the true highlight of the week had to be when campers got to suggest names for our incoming strays, and then watched our intake coordinator actually choose from their suggestions. The pure joy on their faces was priceless.
Craft time got personal this week too. Campers made adoption posters for specific animals they’d met and connected with, hoping to help find them their forever homes. And, as always, time in the kitten room remained a camper favorite.
What made me most proud, though, was hearing kids come back day after day telling me what they’d shared with their parents about what they learned. That’s exactly the kind of impact we hope this camp has, lessons that don’t just stay at camp, but go home with them and carry forward into the future.
 Another huge thank-you to our guest speakers for sharing their time and expertise with our campers once again this week. And to my wonderful coworkers — thank you for continuing to help me out, keep me sane, and hype me up all week long. I’m so grateful for this team.
 We’re already excited to take everything we learned this year and make camp even better next year. We can’t wait to welcome back these friends and see so many new faces too!
