Animal Shelter Field Trip

Evan's cub scout troop meets every other Monday night.  His last meeting was scheduled for the day before our political election day, and since our meeting place is also a voting precinct, the troop planned a field trip for that night.

The church where his troop meets is such a central location in our little area of Charlotte.  It is always hosting various community groups and programs as well as being the location of Brody's preschool.  While I have heard that this election did not engender large voter turn outs in many parts of the country, our voting precinct actually had a record turn out.  It was crazy.  I have never had to wait in line very long to vote even during presidential elections, but Eddie and I both waited almost 45 minutes at two different times of the day to vote and the lines were that long all day.  Of course, we did have a pretty big U.S. senatorial race in our state so that probably had something to do with it.

Anyway, the cub scout field trip was a visit to our local animal shelter.  I knew that this trip would likely be a tough one because I hate seeing animals that have ended up in a shelter with no home and family to love them and have likely been abused or mistreated by previous owners.  Most of the animals in our shelter are domesticated animals, mostly dogs and cats, but there are often a few other animals.  They do have temporary accommodations for livestock type animals as well.  They also have excellent medical facilities for spaying and neutering pets.  Despite the relatively good accommodations for these animals, I know that shelter life is only a temporary arrangement as there are always new animals being brought in and only so much room for them.  The costs of feeding them alone can amount to massive amounts of money.  The kittens tugged on my heartstrings a little despite my not really being a cat person, and there were several dogs, including one sad looking cocker spaniel, that just made me so sad.  If you are in the Mecklenburg County area and interested in adopting or fostering a pet, you can see some of these dear animals on their website here.  While I know that another dog is out of the question for our family at this time, I can't help but harbor a secret wish to take home this sweet little white bunny named Elsa who reminds me so much of my childhood bunny, Pinky.  Hint hint, Eddie!

{I forgot my camera so please excuse the poor picture quality of these photos captured by my phone.}

My little Cub Scout

The Wolf troop

After a tour of the facility, the boys got a little lesson on the animals.  They were mostly impressed that the shelter once housed an alligator.  

Then, a very well-trained dog helped teach the boys the proper way to meet and pet a stranger dog.  Brody actually learned a lot here and exercised his lessons this week when we went on a little hike on our local nature trail and met many dogs. 

Evan meeting the dog.  He has really learned a lot about dogs since getting his own.

All of the boys joined the dog on the floor after their meetings.

And she got lots and lots of attention.

One final troop picture for the night.

And can I just say how thankful I am that Cub Scouts is keeping me from being totally lazy and unproductive this fall?  I feel like I have had such a lack of motivation to do our usual fun fall traditions.  At least with Cub Scouts, we are still managing to experience some fun at this time!