A Visit From Legacy Canine

October 20, 2010

Last Thursday, Kitsap Humane was visited by a group of trainers from Legacy Canine in Sequim. This group of young people were international students of the Karen Pryor Clicker Academy, and they were being hosted and instructed by Elaine Diedrich at Legacy Canine during a ten day stay in the United States. They came from Hong Kong China, Tel Aviv Israel, and the Philippines. All of the trainers were very interested in ways to promote the humane treatment of animals in their own countries. The reason that they had traveled so far to learn humane training techniques was that this type of training does not exist closer to home. It was an educational visit for us as well as our visitors, as we exchanged questions, stories and business cards. Our executive director Sean Compton was able to speak to several of the students in their mother tongue, this delighted all of us! Brad Feliciano from the Philippines was completely amazed by our shelter, and the way we treat animals in the United States. Though there are many improvements to be made to the overall state of the humane movement in the US, animals in other parts of the world are in desperate need of compassion and humane care. That seemed to be the focus for all of the trainers that we talked with. They wanted to know how to reach people and teach them the importance of treating animals with compassion and dignity. The visit left all of us at KHS feeling a little awed by our guests and their dedication and enthusiasm to be the forerunners of change for the animals throughout the world. What a very high honor it was to be a part of their quest! Written by: Deana Case