The Humane Society of Southwest Missouri worked to bring a Merry Christmas to the dogs at the shelter by holding a dog toy drive from December 1 to the 22.
According to Sarah Englis, a science teacher at Fair Grove High School and Humane Society volunteer, there were approximately 100 to 150 toys collected for the 97 dogs at the shelter. On December 24, a room was filled with all the toys and the dogs were let in one at a time to pick their present.
The toys were collected via donation boxes set up at various businesses in the area. Some donation locations in Fair Grove were 4D’s Eats, Monroe Coffee Co. and LOL Restaurant.
Donation boxes were also set up in the Fair Grove High and Middle Schools by Englis’ fifth hour Animal Biology class. The class reached out to people, “…by posting on the community Facebook and the school instagram as well as going to many businesses in Fair Grove and talking to them about the drive,” said Kaden Baker (11).
As motivation to get people to donate in the Fair Grove schools, a competition was held between the Eagle Hour classes. Kasey Sekulic, a math teacher at Fair Grove Middle School, and Nikki Kisling’s, a math teacher at Fair Grove High School, were the winners, receiving a prize of ice cream sandwiches for their class.
Two of the dogs that received gifts were Tank, a three and a half year old Pitbull who’s been at the Humane Society since August 17, 2023, and Claire, a three and a half year old Catahoula Leopard who entered the shelter on July 8, 2023, and was adopted on December 27.
Many of the dogs were very excited to receive their gifts and had a good time playing with them. “Some of them immediately murdered their present, like Tank . . . and that’s good fun for them,” stated Englis.
The idea for the drive came from Englis’ nephew, Redek. According to Englis, “In October, [Redek] explained, ‘Just because these dogs don’t have a home doesn’t mean they can’t have a good Christmas.’” This led to the Humane Society and Englis’ Animal Biology class setting up boxes that people could donate dog toys in.
Jon Peak (10) explained that Redek’s Dog Toy Drive not only gave the dogs an opportunity to have a good Christmas, but that it also raised awareness for the Humane Society and brought the community closer together.
