The Regina Humane Society (RHS) is the temporary home to many cats and kittens, who now get to enjoy some storytelling thanks to the RHS’s Kitty Readers program.
Kids aged 7-11 can come by the RHS to practice their reading skills to cats.
Ryleigh Beudry is a fifth-grade student and frequent volunteer with the program.
“One time I read in a room with, like seven kittens, and when I sat down, they crawled all over me.” Beudry recalls being her favourite memory so far.
Beudry’s favourite story to read is “The Tale of Tom Kitten” and she likes to be at the RHS as often as she can.
It isn’t just time spent with kittens that makes the program special for Beudry, but also time spent with her grandmother.
Peg St Godard, a volunteer of RHS, thought that getting her granddaughter involved was a good idea.
“I just thought it was a wonderful opportunity for young people to start volunteering and give back to the community,” she told CTV News.
“It’s good for them to learn at an early age and encourage them to do volunteering, maybe here or in other things … she really loves it, she can’t get enough of it. So, she likes to come here at least once or twice a week.”
Since then, the duo have become regulars at the Humane Society.
“It’s nice, it’s kind of our time together and it’s something that only us can do. So, she really enjoys it, so do I,” St. Godard said.
For Beaudry, its an opportunity to show some love to animals who have been through difficult situations.
“Some cats, they don’t have tails and other dogs, they’re found and probably they were abused … So it’s important to spend some time with them,” she explained.
Bill Thorn, director of marketing and communications for RHS, explained there’s a lot of benefit in the program as an opportunity for kids to practice their reading skills.
According to Thorn, the program has been growing.
“The cats are not judgmental. If they [the kids] trip over a word, it’s okay. They don’t care. And it also allows for socialization of the cats to be around different people in different situations in preparation for being adopted and going into a new home,” he explained.
“So, there’s really no downside to it. It’s sort of a win/win situation. It has been very popular, and now we get kids coming in on a regular basis.”
Several of the RHS volunteer programs require being a little bit older to help out, although many kids express interest at a young age, which is one of the reasons that the Kitty Readers program came about.
Thorn expressed that it is important to teach the next generation about the importance of caring for animals.
“I mean, they’re our future. Future supporters, hopefully future employees, hopefully volunteers. So, there’s again, a lot of reasons that we want to get those people in,” he said.
“That’s what it’s all about, family keeping pets with their family.”