Trainer Gina Lepine and Maddalena Mineo, 17, place treats on the agility plank to encourage Coco.
Photo by Barbaraellen Koch, via suffolktimes.timesreview.com/
Here’s a wonderful story from Long Island, New York, where a 17-year-old high-schooler, who took it upon herself to design and build an agility course for her local animal shelter. Young Maddalena Mineo is a hardcore animal lover—she used to write a pets column in the school newspaper—created the dog-shelter project as a way to earn the Girl Scout’s highest award, the Gold Award:
“When it came time to pick a project, I came to the animal shelter,” she said. “Animals have always been a big part of my life.”
Ms. Mineo’s inquiry to help the shelter last fall came at the perfect time, said Marlene Ferber, who is on the shelter’s board of directors.
The agility garden is something the nonprofit has been considering for a while as a means to improve the facility for the dogs and make it more inviting for the general public to visit.
Watch the video below to see one of the dogs at the shelter leaning how to use the new course. It’s always wonderful to see young people whose priorities are in the right place.