$500 – Aska’s Animals Foundation
The 2022 Youth Philanthropy students were honored to provide a partial grant of $500 to the Aska’s Animals Foundation for the purpose of providing the organization’s animal care staff with continuing education to further their knowledge of canine behavior and development and to better assess and rehabilitate dogs with aggressive tendencies.
The Youth Philanthropists recognized Aska Animal’s concern that during COVID many people adopted or bought dogs to keep them company at home and now that people have returned to work and travel, animal shelters across the US including regional and local shelters and rescues have seen an alarming increase in animals being returned or surrendered. Many of these dogs were isolated and did not receive the training that they needed to be around a variety of people and places. With the support of a Youth Philanthropy grant, Aska Animals will increase support to the community and regional shelters by further training its staff on how to work with dogs that have “stranger danger” and other common issues that can manifest as aggressive behaviors. The additional training will take place through Behavior Vets webinars. Aska’s Animals staff will use the knowledge gained from these classes to help the animals in their care as well as with PAWS of Teton Valley, the Animal Adoption Center and the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, and a handful of other regional shelters and rescues. By having its animal care team have this knowledge, Aska’s Animals increases the amount of support that it can provide for the animals in its care and on a day-to-day basis.
The Youth Philanthropy students understood that further staff training in working with aggressive animals would result in better-trained animals that would be suitable for adoption. They were pleased to award this grant to achieve that goal.
