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The photos you see are of dogs and cats adopted by your instructor. Scroll down to read this page.  |
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Clarification of Dog Walk Project: The Dog Walk project (dog walk and dog food donation) is NOT mandatory -- and NOT automatic free points. You can select two other projects if you prefer to not spend money on a bag of dog food, which you must donate to help abandoned dogs. For points you must follow the instructions as stated on the page with submission instructions and below. The Dog Walk is faster to do, so you can devote more time to finishing other class assignments such as quizzes, drills and worksheets -- while you at the same time help the dogs and the shelters in the Valley. If you plan to do the Dog walk, to be on the safe side I recommend that you call the shelter before driving there, to check for opening hours and availability of dogs to walk. (One semester there was an outbreak of kennel cough preventing anyone from walking dogs for a while.)
2501 W. Trenton Road (1/4 Mi. East of McColl)
Edinburg, Texas 78539
(956) 686-1141
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The Dirty Little Secret In Your Community
(Boks, E. 2005. My Turn: The Dirty Little Secret In Your Community. Newsweek, June 27: p. 15.)
... hundreds, if not thousands, of healthy pets are killed simply because there are not enough homes for them. Most people would never support such a practice if they knew it was occurring...
About 900 animals a week are being killed at the Upper Valley Humane Society.
Source: Martinez, S. 2000. No place to call home: Humane society forced to kill 900 unwanted animals a week. The Monitor, McAllen, Tx (August 26). .
For years, the shelter has been trying to cope with an extremely high stray and unwanted
pet population in Hidalgo County and surrounding cities. Since the Weslaco
animal shelter, the Upper Valley shelter has felt added
pressure. The wider scope has increased the number of animals at the shelter by between 10,000 and 12,000. Unfortunately, most of the dogs, cats and other animals brought to the shelter won't survive their stay. Last year, the shelter euthanized 34,000 animals. Of the 3,000 animals brought to the shelter last month, only 88 were adopted, the rest were killed either by lethal injection or in the shelter's gas chamber.
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The dog in the picture above and to the right, brought in to the Humane Society by the instructor, was too sick to be able to walk in on its own. The dog was determined to be suffering and could not be cured and was put to sleep soon after being admitted. Because the "humane society" has become an overloaded "dog pound", due to wide spread mistreatment of dogs in the Rio Grande Valley, this is sadly the fate of most dogs admitted to the Palm Valley Animal Center.
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Click on the photo! |
We live in the United States! This is supposedly the riches country in the world! Yet, most citizens of this rich country apparently think animal abuse and animal suffering is acceptable? No? Why, then, is animal abuse and abandoned dogs so common? You answer that!|
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Every time I look at these pictures I get depressed...
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Note that the abandoned dog in the photographs (taken by your instructor) is NOT the same as the lucky dog in the newspaper story and was unfortunately not as lucky as the dog in the story. (The dog in the photos was put to sleep the same day these photos were taken.) |
Short instructions
These instructions were written because of experience with a few "students" from previous semesters. To avoid misunderstandings and disappointments READ THEM (it is a requirement if you want to do this non-mandatory replacement project)! If you are not willing to read this and do the Dog Walk Project according to the educational philosophy and rules set by the instructor, select the Environmental Detective Project instead -- which, however, also have rules to follow. Stop reading this page now. Click "back" or the button. 
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This is an individual student/family or small group project. You must own or have in your possession a camera. Do not ask the shelter to use their camera to take the pictures required for the project.
Visit the Palm Valley Animal Center (former Upper Valley Humane Society) anytime before the due date. Other shelters may also qualify (but you must clear them with the instructor first).
Donate, to the Palm Valley Animal Center a, minimum, 16 lbs bag of dry dog food per student. (If you work with another student, each student must donate your own bag of dog food.)
Ask the Palm Valley Animal Center for a receipt stating that you have donated a 16lbs bag of dog food.
Believe it or not, there have been students who cheat by taking a picture of themselves with someone else's bag of dog food -- and then not donating anything.
Ask for permission to walk a dog. (If you work with another student, each student must walk their own DIFFERENT dog.)
Document your work by having a group/family member taking two good quality photos, one (i) of you and your donation, and another (ii) when you walk the dog at the Humane Society.
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Pictures will not necessarily be used on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice, but students participating in this project must nevertheless give the instructor permission to post the pictures on the Internet. If you don't approve -- select the Environmental Detective Project instead.
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Submit as per the Semester Calendar. For submission details see this page.
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Students in the same group CANNOT walk the same dog (if you are afraid of dogs, you must still walk your own dog...), and each student must turn in photos, receipe and written 100-word summary. Although, if you are afraid of dogs, perhaps you should not do this project? :-) Group photos are acceptable, but if you take a group picture EACH STUDENT must still turn in a separate photo, you must each donate a 16 lbs bag of dry dog food, and turn in your own receipe and written 100-word summary.
Even though the cats probably would be happier in a real home, most of the cats at the humane society are doing better than the dogs that are locked into small cages. The humane society needs help to walk the dogs. Just petting a cat, or a dog, will not give you any booster points -- even if you donate dog food. You must WALK a dog.
If you want to be friendly to a cat, fine, but the project points will be given to you for walking a dog AND donating a 16 lbs bag of dog food, AND turning in TWO (2) good quality pictures as proof, AND a receipt (from the Humane Society -- NOT WalMart!), AND a written summary of your experience.
Reason for the Humane Society receipt: Again, believe it or not, there have been students who cheat by taking a picture of themselves with someone else's bag of dog food -- and then not donating anything.
Pay attention to the following requirements: The pictures MUST be of good, clear quality. Some older cell phone cameras do not take acceptable photos. The resolution is too low. Some older cell phone photos are not larger than the head of a pin. Except for looking at the picture on the tiny cell phone screen, it cannot be used for anything else. If your cell phone cannot take pictures with normal resolution you must take the picture with a real camera. Bad foggy, fussy, unclear, not focused pictures will not be accepted. If you don't know how to take acceptable pictures, bring someone who knows how to use a camera, or don't do this project. If the photos don't come out you will not receive project points -- no exceptions. A receipt for your donation from the Palm Valley Animal Center will NOT replace the photos! You can always walk a second dog if the photos do not come out the first time... Take several pictures to be sure to get at least two good pictures. If you do not have the means to take two quality photos -- DON'T DO THIS PROJECT -- or do it with someone who knows how to use a camera...
Again, this is a project for a couple of students or a small group. Please do not ask the dog shelter people to take the pictures of you WITH THEIR CAMERA -- YOU must bring your own camera camera and ask your group member, another student, or a family member to take the pictures.
Readings
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The grading criteria for a particular class may be changed due to unforeseen circumstances to meet the needs of a particular class. The instructor therefore reserves the right to alter (add, delete, or revise) any items of the above, online or via verbal instructions in class. The student is responsible for taking note of any such changes and acting accordingly.
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For dog walk pictures -- SCROLL DOWN!  |
-- Disclaimer: "Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice", at the time of writing located as a file under the South Texas College's (STC) web server with the general URL http://www.southtexascollege.edu/, is the intellectual property of Dr. Jan A. Nilsson, member of STC biology faculty. The content of Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice does not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of the STC faculty, staff, administration, and Board of Trustees.
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