SWIVL Brisenia Flores Memorial Award

Companion Animal Book Reviews

Here are two great books that offer some wonderful ideas about the lives of companion animals.  Click on the picture to purchase these and other books or better yet, go to the library.

Kehret, Peg. Shelter Dogs Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays, 1999, Albert Whitman & Company – In just 132 pages young readers will get to know eight very remarkable shelter   dogs and their people. Each story is packed with emotion. Will the little terrier whose owner died and left him orphaned be euthanized because he is snarling and snapping at everyone who tries to befriend him? Will the big puppy, Zorro, who grew into a gigantic dog while living in the shelter ever find a home? How about the blind border collie who spent the first three years of his life with his sibling as a farm dog, with little human interaction? Those three and the other five dogs profiled in the book, not only get adopted but go on to lead extraordinary lives of service, heroism and stardom. These are real life super-heros who young readers will fall madly in love with and wish that there were eight more stories just like these to read.

Casey, Patricia. One Day at Wood Green Animal Shelter, 2001, Candlewick Press – The inside cover describes the book like this, “It’s always bustling with activity at the Wood Green Animal Shelter. On this particular day, you’ll find shelter workers doing their chores, a waiting room full of pets and people, a curious fox named William, a baby pigeon named Roast Potato, and seventy stretching, pacing purring cats! Through a lively combination of narrative and photo collage, author-illustrator Patricia Casey introduces us to the busy family of people and animals at Wood Green Animal Shelter, and to the fascinating stories they have to tell.” It is a fun book to read aloud and would make a great book to use as a guide for an art project. Children love looking at the illustration-collages and figuring out which animals are drawings and which are photographs.

Representative Pat Fleming to Present Awards

For those who knew Brisenia, she had a unwavering love for animals and a passion for life.  Brisenia was a joyful young girl who loved everyone she met.  According to SWIVL Executive Director, Dr. Kathleen Wishinick, the Brisenia Flores Memorial Award will help students become more responsible and self-reliant by experiencing firsthand the love and friendship they can have with a companion or farmed animal.   SWIVL hopes the memory of Brisenia Flores will help children connect their hearts and minds as they dream of a life filled with hope, possibility and most of all compassion.

In honor of Brisenia , LD 25 House of Representatives Member, the Honorable Pat Fleming will present awards to students on March 11, 2010 at Sopori School. 

All winners, parents/guardians, and teachers are invited to attend a celebration party at SWIVL on Sunday, March 28, 2010 from 2-4 p.m.

The Emotional World of Farmed Animals

Study guide and film FREE to teachers! Animal Place is proud to announce the creation of a curriculum unit on farmed animals for secondary teachers! The 50-page study guide accompanies our film, The Emotional World of Farm Animals, which has been aired nationally on PBS.
Geared for all ages, this study guide introduces students to the intelligence and emotional states of cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats and sheep.

If you are a teacher interested in receiving a FREE copy of our study guide AND PBS-aired film, The Emotional World of Farm Animals, please fill out the registration form.

Our thanks to the Glaser Progress Foundation & the Animal Welfare Trust for funding this project.

Film also available for purchase!

The film can be purchased on-line for $20.

Dear Brisenia . . . Your Kitties are Loved

Dear Brisenia,

We want to let you know that your kitties are doing okay. They have been with us over the past few days and they’re getting along very well with the other SWIVL cats.  Don’t’ worry, they are safe and sound.  We keep them inside, away from anyone that can hurt them.

Brisenia, your cats are very special.  You did a really nice job of raising them.  You should be very proud.   It’s not easy taking care of cats and it shows how much you loved them.  They do not scratch, bite, or hiss.  They are friendly; love to be loved, and gentle to the touch.

Your life, like your kitties, will always be a mystery. Watching Tiger and Stanley we can only wonder about the behaviors they display each day.  We will never know what they dream – only that they do.  We will never know your dreams – only that you did.  We will never know the young woman you would have been – the possibilities and promise.

We can only know you by the lives you touched and the kitties that you loved.   Your kitties tell your story and we listen each day. 

We will make sure that you are never forgotten.  Every time Tiger and Stanley are fed, touched, and held, you will be there.  They will never go hungry and always have shelter.  We promise to greet them every morning with a loving touch and a cheerful smile.  We promise to make sure their water is fresh and that they feel the warmth of the sun.  We promise to tell them how much you loved them each day, every day.   We promise!

Connecting our Hearts and Minds

Kathleen Wishnick, SWIVL Executive Director met with Desi Raulston, Sopori Elementary School Principal to discuss and finalize the Brisenia Flores Memorial Award. The Memorial Award is for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. To participate, students must have the support and approval of their teacher and parents or guardians.

The purpose of the Brisenia Flores Memorial Award is to honor Brisenia Flores by providing opportunities for children to relate to companion and farmed animals in new and different ways.  Participating students will examine their relationship with a companion or farmed animal by maintaining a journal around the following questions:

• What have you learned from this special relationship?
• What does being kind to animals mean to you?
• What can you do to create a more compassionate and responsible community?

Through their participation, students, with their parents and teachers, will create a new sense of compassion and care for animals which can be applied to their day-to-day relationships in school, home, and in the community.  SWIVL believes the Brisenia Flores Memorial Award will help students become more responsible and self-reliant by experiencing firsthand the love and friendship they can have with a companion or farmed animal.

SWIVL hopes the the memory of Brisenia Flores will help children connect  their hearts and minds as they dream of a life filled with hope, possibility and most of all compassion.

 

Promoting Kindness and Compassion

Intermediate students from Sopori Elementary School (Amado, Arizona) will have the opportunity to participate in the SWIVL Brisenia Flores Memorial Award.  This award honors the young life of Brisenia Flores by offering to intermediate grade children the opportunity to display and share their creative ideas around the care and responsible treatment of companion and farmed animals.  Students have the opportunity to promote kindness and compassion towards animals through creative writing, poetry, art, and music. 

To participate in the Award Program, students will need to complete an application and return it to SWIVL, P.O. Box 670, Arivaca, Arizona, 85601.  Applications need to be post marked on or before December 4, 2009.

The loss of nine-year-old Brisenia Flores is a reminder of how valuable and precious life is and that our children should be treasured.  Brisenia loved life and cared deeply for animals. She brought joy to everyone she touched and it is the memory of her playful spirit and love that will be permanently part of the Arivacan community.  Join with SWIVL in honoring this beautiful little girl for what she was and might have been – for all the children.