Samantha Parkman Senior Project

May 20, 2019 Written at 8PM     My last day of volunteering. It was sad walking through the doors knowing that this would be my last shift. Right away I cleaned the guinea pig cage and then helped a worker clean out a couple of the cat enclosures. I got the chance to meet and socialize with a few new cats that I hadn’t gotten to know previously. After that, I finally finished all of the summer camp registration information forms. It took me hours to get through it all, but I really took the time to finish. That took up most of my day. The last event that I chaperoned was for some little kids reading to three little puppies. I had spent lots of time with these puppies beforehand so I knew what they were like. They were running around most of the time as the kids read and enjoyed playing with them. I cleaned up the training room after and by that point it was the end of my shift. Today I spent 6 hours and have in total completed 103 hours of my senior project.

This week was more hard work rather than just animal socialization and animal cleaning. I got to be put in the shoes of the people who are always helping in the workroom. It was busy back there since they got so many new kittens and cats. It was also busy due to a lot of cats that were brought up front who were finally ready to be adopted which left their old supplies to be cleaned. Spending hours in the workroom was honestly a pain sometimes, but I was also pretty used to lots of cleaning because of my summer job working in housekeeping at Proctor.     Some fun events through the week included a trip to a retirement home, some kitten yoga, and career day at Loudon Elementary School. At the retirement home, I was able to see the joy that the animals brought them, but it was also good to get the puppies used to that many people. The kitten yoga was with Concord High School where we set six little kittens free to roam around while they did yoga. This was a good way to boost the kids m

May 17, 2019 Written at 10PM     My shift at the Pope Memorial was suddenly cancelled due to the fact that they were having a lot of septic problems so really no one could go in and work. After hearing that, I decided it would be a good opportunity to start working on my handout for express fest. I began working in Pages to create a brochure style handout about the SPCA’s mission, what they provide, what I’ve learned, and gave a little insight about two of the animals that I had gotten to know. After I worked on the handout I decided to watch a short documentary about Pit Bull dog fighting called Off The Chain. I decided to watch this one because there is a lot of stereotypes about that breed and I hear it a lot while I’m volunteering so I wanted to learn more about it. They talked about how Pit Bulls used to be a well loved dog, but then people started using them for the wrong reasons. This led to training them to use for violence and to get money. In the movie, they showed a lo

May 16, 2019 Written at 10PM     For the third day in a row, as soon as I walked through the doors I went straight to cleaning Maple, the guinea pig’s, cage. Maple is the only small animal right now so I know that it would be helpful for me to clean her space up while the other workers could get some harder jobs done. After that, a lot of the workers were bringing many new cats up front that are now ready to be adopted. Because of that there were lots of litter boxes, cat carriers, play structures, dishes, toys, etc. to wash and dry. Along with that, there were also dog supplies to clean. I was in the workroom for almost the whole morning. Once I was finally finished in there, I continued some more summer camp paperwork. I’ve been working on it off and on all week and I’m only halfway through. Today I spent another 7 ½ hours and have in total completed 94 hours of my senior project.

May 15, 2019 Written at 9PM     I began my early morning cleaning out a returned guinea pig, Maple. Right after, I helped a staff member clean the kitten’s cages. There are lots of kittens right now so getting all of that done took some time. Most of my morning after that was spent in the workroom where I continuously washed dishes and litter boxes. I also swept and mopped the workroom since it got dirty from all the trash overflowing. After I was completely done in the workroom, I went to hang out with the cats and socialize. One of the cats that I always check up on and spend time with, Bebe, came down from her enclosure which doesn’t happen often. She then cuddled and crawled on to my lap and laid there for a while. The last few hours consisted of some extra cleaning, kitten socialization with a group that isn’t too fond of humans, and some more summer camp paperwork. Today I spent 7 ½ hours and have in total completed 86 ½ hours of my senior project.

May 14, 2019 Written at 9PM The morning was pretty typical. I began by cleaning the gerbil’s cage again. After that routine, I went into the office to do some more summer camp paperwork for Shannon. I was able to get a lot more done than the first day because I had gotten used to how to do it. Then some kids from Concord High School came to do some kitten yoga. This is when a group does some yoga in the training room and we let some kittens free to run around them and play with them. This is a good way to boost the kids motivation and to help the kittens socialize. As soon as that hour was up, Shannon and I immediately got ready to bring those same kittens to Loudon Elementary School for their career day. When we were there, Shannon spoke about the importance of animal care and how to approach the animals. We had set up a playpen for the kittens and me and another SPCA worker would take a couple kittens out for the kids to pet. Then I just drove back the kittens and the suppli