PAWS has been a wonderful experience for me each time I have participated. As soon as the leaders of the organization bring the animals in, I automatically feel a sense of happiness and excitement. Each animal has a unique personality and responds to each individual differently. For example, Honey the bunny took a strong liking to me and really enjoyed my company. The rabbit sat in my lap calmly and allowed for me to pet her long, soft fur. Having such close contact with such a cute and calm animal really reinforced the purpose for this organization. I felt incredibly happy to be at PAWS and to be experiencing all the fun the group provides. Also at this meeting, was Bailey the Golden Retriever. She was playful and energetic and allowed for the students to forget about their day-to-day stress and simply focus on the fun of the meeting. One fun thing that the organization does is that the members come up with creative trading cards for each animal. The trading cards include fun facts about the animals such as their “major” in school, their loves/interests, and their favorite thing about PAWS. At the end of this weeks entry, I have included Bailey’s trading card with her fun facts. Another animal I enjoyed seeing at a different meeting was Woodstock the therapy chicken. I was extremely surprised with how calm he was. In my experience, chickens have always been very unpredictable and easily angered, but Woodstock was very willing to allow people to stroke his back and even his fluffy head. He seemed to not be bothered in the slightest with how much physical contact he was receiving.
Each time I have gone to PAWS, there has always been a new animal to see and bond with. I have come to learn, however, that the sessions on Thursdays on West Bank only feature dogs, whereas the Wednesday sessions on East Bank provide a variety of species. I have not personally gone to any meetings on the St. Paul campus, but I plan to find out more information on what animals those sessions include.
