BLOG 26: Senior Project Reflection

Positive Statement:
 I am most proud of how strong my presentation skills are when it comes to discussing animal control, my one year mentorship experience and keeping high grades throughout all senior project assignments.

Questions to Consider:
A. Assessment you would give yourself on 2-Hour - AE
B. Assesment you would give on overall senior project- AE

What worked for you:
What worked best for me in my senior project is my mentorship. I was able to volunteer for over a year at Glendora Animal Control and that experience helped me produce my EQ, answers and have great sources for presentations, papers, ect.

What didn't work:
I would have worked on my 3-column chart more to get a better grade since I got an AP, and I would have have more good sourced articles to reference.

Finding Value:
The senior project has helped me learn how to only rely on myself and realize how important I was dependent on myself when it came to my grade since everything was on my own. I was also able to develop even better presentation skills and develop a bigger love for animals.

Extra Post 10: The Animal Control Experience Part 2

As I wrote about my previous experience with catching a lost dog a little bit ago, the experience happened again just yesterday. As I was walking my own dog with my dad, we see a stray dog bolting down the street towards on coming traffic. So of course I start running after to get a better look. He must of been a greyhound or an extremely skinny mutt, but he was fast. Within 2 minutes he had covered a distance of 5 blocks and he was not stopping. Luckily this time there was two other guys trying to help catch him, but this dog was not stopping.

He defiantly scarred and was not going to come to us. From what I could see, he did not have a collar on anyway, which meant it would have been extremely difficult to find his owner. it is essential that owners have a collar with tags on their dog at all times. This makes it some much easier for the person that finds their dog or the animal control officer and lessens their chance of being thrown into a shelter.

After a few minutes of trying to catch up with the dog he was long gone and basically, I was not fast enough. The two boys kept running after him but I had the wrong clothes to try and run in. Hopefully they finally caught the dog, but the mystery will forever be unsolved.

Extra Post 9: Leash Law

According to California Law, it is against the law to not have your dog on a leash. Whether the dog is outside, or on a walk, at all times the dog MUST have a proper leash on.

The reason for this is the danger the dog many cause to others. For some instances the dog may be aggressive towards people and or other animals. If it is not on a leash you cause the risk of the dog attacking either the person or the other dog while walking or running around. One of the other common issues that come from dogs not being on a leash is running away. In many cases dogs have ran away from their owner and gotten hit by a car, or never being found. If the dog is never found it eventually gets picked up by animal control and put into a shelter. When this happens, it means there is another reason to  add onto overpopulation issues.

It is extremely important to leash your dog so they dont hurt themselves, others or cause more animal overpopulation.

Extra Post 8: Closing Down Glendora Animal Control?

A few weeks ago as I was at my mentorship with Glendora Animal Control the news broke to me that next year the animal control program may be shut down. Just a few months ago the Glendora Police Department hired the new animal control officer, Vanessa Alvarez because of how busy the department was. Then, the department got hit again with budget cuts, being one of the departments that may have to be shut down. The announcement is not offical yet, but in the department keeps bringing in low amount of income and budgets are cut even more, the Glendora Animal Control Department may be closed down for good.

Extra Post 7: Can't Adopt?

If you go onto most rescue websites, such as the German Shepard Rescue of Orange County's, the website is very well set up when trying to help out the animals. There are many options for you to help an animal in need such as adoptions, donating, fostering or sponsoring.

Fostering- This is where you bring the dog home as if you were adoption but you only keep the dog until it has a real adoption in place. This helps overpopulation since many shelters cannot hold a lot of animals that come in.

Donating- Donating helps with providing housing and food for the animals in the rescue and providing them with essentials such as food, shelter and housing.

Sponsoring- Sponsoring is where you give money to the rescue every month, sponsoring a specific dog, you are basically paying for all its needs and care until it is adopted. This is sort of like adopting, in a different sense.

This an example from the German Shepard Rescue of Orange County is where you can go to their website and on the right hand side adopt, donate, sponsor or foster!

Extra Post 6: Inland Valley Humane Society

Glendora Animal Control is a contracted out animal control facility, they typically do not have adoptions and there is only a few holding spots for animals. Because of this, my mentor Jolean Miller and the other officer, Vanessa Alvarez have to take the remaining animals who are not picked up by the next week to Inland Valley.

Inland Valley is NOT a no-kill shelter meaning, within two to three days of a animal being in the shelter, it could possibly be euthanized. The reason they do this is because the overpopulation rate in the shelter is too large to hold the animals any longer. It is a sad and inhumane process that should be stopped, but as for now is still running.

Extra Post 5: Licensing Season: Glendora Animal Control

In the early stages of June to late August is the time period for licensing in Glendora Animal Control. Licensing is one of the key factors for the Glendora Animal Control to generate income for all the animals its holds. Depending on if you do is spay/neutered or not, the prices can vary from 50 dollars to 150 dollars. The point of licensing is in case your dog get out and animal control picks it up, the dog is in the system to be returned. If the dog is not licensed, it causes more fees on the owners part and the risk of their dog getting euthanized since there is no information on the dogs owner.

Glendora Animal Control and many other facilities solely rely on donations and fees they bring in for food ans shelter for the animals they bring in. Without these incomes, animal control officers would be out of luck. The money they're able to spend every year is decreasing more and more so it is very important to donate and license you dog during this time ever year!

Extra Post 4: Glendora Police Station Event

Once every 3 months a Animal Control training facility comes to the Glendora Police Department to help train police officers, cadets and other police department members on training police dogs and the job of an animal control officer.

 The picture above is the truck that is currently parked outside of the police station, where they hold classes and train. 

Extra Post 3: Animal Control Experience

On May 21st, after 9 months of experience, my animal control instincts set in and I rescued the most difficult dog of my life. 

My mom and I were in Covina driving the gas station on Arrow Highway, as soon as we turned in I spotted a dog running down the sidewalk. Of course I jumped out of the car after it, but it immediatlyey ran away from me, onto Glendora Ave, nearly getting hit by a car. She decides to start running down Arrow Highway towards Grand, and so did I.

As I begin running I was having trouble catching up because of my shoes, so I decide to run barefoot, down Arrow for almost a mile ending up at the Covina Thrift Store. She then runs to the back parking lot, scared to death and jumps a 5ft brick wall into someones back yard. 

After working with the home owners, my mom and I get the dog on a leash, but she would not come out from under the table, so we finally get a phone number and I call the owner  Within 5 minutes they show up to rescue their frightened dog after we had been chasing her for over an hour. 

Because of my adventure running barefoot, my feet were bleeding and still have tons of blisters all over, but it was worth it rescuing a dogs life and save a pet owner from heartache. My experience with animal control has not just taught me how to rescue an animal but has led me to develop a passion to help save any animals life. 

Extra Post 2: Glendora Animal Control Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic

Every few months Glendora Animal Control host a low cost Spay/Neutering clinic for all Glendora residents and other surrounding areas. To sign up for the procedure you can contact the Glendora Police Department at (626)-914-8250 or Glendora Animal Control at (626)914-8275. For more information please contact Jolean Miller or Vanessa Alvarez at the Glendora Animal Control phone number.

Part of the proceeds go towards funding for Glendora Animal Control!



The truck above is an example of where the spay/neuterings are held.

BLOG 25: Mentorship

Literal: 

Logged Hours- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvUf7yrwuYvwdHNxcU83Zko3OFJodzh4bU50VXlnM3c#gid=0

Contact Name & Number- Jolean Miller (626)914-8275

Interpretive:

The most important thing I gained from my mentorship experience was learning how to work with people better. Working at the Glendora Police Department, it has a very professional feel, you need to know how to respect each other, work with costumers correctly and get work done quick. To do all of this, I needed to learn from people already working in the station, whether it was from former police officers, cadets or the two animal control officers, it was always a group effort to perform as best as I could. So overall, learning how to better my skills when it came to working with others was a large part of my mentorship experience. 

Applied:

My mentorship experience has helped me answer my essential question primarily because of my mentor Jolean, all my interviews and having hands on experience in the field. I was able to develop most of my answers because of my mentorship, whether it was seeing how low adoptions were in the facility or how huge of an issue spay/neutering is in our communities. My interviews with both Jolean Miller and Vanessa Alvarez, animal control officers helped me answer questions I was having trouble with and they gave me tons of ideas to better my answers/back them up with research. After looking at all three of my answers, I came to the discision that my best answer would have to increasing adoptions. I chose this answer mostly because of what I saw in my volunteering. There were maybe 2 adoptions a month in their facility, with over 50 animals coming in a month. Most of those animals are taken to a kill shelter and euthanized within 3 days. My mentorship has had a huge impact on my senior project, especially when it came to discovering my three answers, developing my EQ and finding my best answer. 

Extra Post 1: Mentorship Event: Glendora Police Department Open House

This Saturday the Glendora Police Department will be hosting a Open House event with tours, games, food and other activities for kids. This tour will include a tour of the animal control department in the facility including meeting some of the animals held in the back. 

Here is the information:

Glendora Police Department open House

Date: 5/18/2013 10:00 AM- 2:00 PM

Cost:Free!

Location: Glendora Police Department
150 S. Glendora Ave
Glendora, California 91741

Add to my Outlook Calendar

Glendora Police Department Open House

Saturday, May  18^th from 10-2 pm. 

Police displays and department tours, SWAT equipment, K-9 demos, free hot dogs, music and more!

For more information contact Nita Ulloa at 626-914-8268

This is a picture from the last Open House event, Cadet Christina Verduzcu is pictured helping some kids pet the police dog, Robbie, a Belgium Shepard. 

Exit Interview Questions

BLOG 24

What is your essential question? What is the best answer to your question and why?

My essential question is, ‘What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?’ The best answer to my essential question is to increase adoption rates in animal control facilities throughout the United States. Only 20 percent of pets are adopted in the U.S. and over 4 million animals are euthanized every year in shelters. The adoption rate is at an all time low and there is nothing being done to help lower the intake from animal shelters. My other two answers are to illegalize and shut down puppy mills and lobby for spay/neutering legislation. Even though puppy mills are completely shut down and not all counties have mandatory spay/neutering, there still already are in the process of helping reduce overpopulation. There is no solution to get people to choose adopting over buying from a pet store or breeder. Although, if we work with animal organization and shelters more to reduce adoption costs, spread the word about the benefits of adoption and why not to buy from pet stores, adoption rates could possibly skyrocket.

What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

            At my mentorship, they primarily focus on spay/neutering, picking up animals and licensing dogs in the city of Glendora. After a certain amount of days what animals are left in the holding areas, are sent to the Inland Valley Humane Society, which is a kill shelter. Technically they do not adopt out animals from Glendora Animal Control, but they still can send the dogs to specific bred rescues or no kill shelters. Although I have nothing against my mentor o others in the animal control department, there isn’t much effort that they take to make sure the animals are adopted or not euthanized. If more shelters or people took the time to take strays to rescues like the german shepard rescue of OC or the lab rescue of LA, specific bred rescues, they do not kill animals and all animals end up getting adopted. If the word was spread out more about adopting, they would increase, just little things make a huge difference and I noticed that in my mentorship. I helped rescue/adopt at least 2 animals in shelter alone while I was there. Pet owners not adopted is becoming more common nowadays, so by increasing adoption rates it would reduce overpopulation.

What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

            One of the biggest problems I face was working with others during my mentorship. Of course my mentor Jolean was welcoming and helping me get used to things but it was extremely intimidating to work in the Police Department. Many of the cadets would get annoyed when trying to help me, not work with me because I was the “newbie”, and didn’t really think I could work well in the office. I resolved this issue by just showing them that I can work well and get the work done. I challenged myself to get as many dog licenses done every day I was there and work with costumers well. After Jolean and Vanessa, the other officer noticed my hard work, so did everyone else. It was a challenged but in the end, the respect I deserved was given to me.

What are the two most significant sources that you used to answer your essential question and why?

My first most significant source is my mentor Jolean Miller. She has been a animal control officer for over 7 years now at the Glendora Police Department. Jolean has tons of experience with everything that has to do with animal control. Jolean has gone through investigations with puppy mills and hoarding, having clinics for spay/neutering and adopted out many cats and dogs from the facility. She knows all aspects of animal control and because of that I’ve gotten a lot of hands on experience from working with her.

            My other most significant source is an article from the ASPCA animal organization called Pet Statistics. The article is give statistics on adoption rates, euthanizations, strays, spay/neutering, and pet owners. The statistics are primarily from the ASCPA, but if not and are found from other sources, the statistics are cited and legitimate. This article broadens on all aspects of animal control, my essential question exactly and my three answers by backing up all my statements.

What is your product and why?

The product of my senior project has to be working with people better. When I was volunteering at my mentorship, it was more of like a job. You were expected to get this done, work with others and understand things fast. At first the intimidation was hard, there were many strong personalities I had to work with, and go on calls with. Many of the cadets are in their early twenties so it was a hard age group to work with. I had to learn how to be respectful to the officers with higher rankings, work with costumers and follow the steps when working with them. There were many steps to learn in animal control when it came to working in the computer system and working with the animals in the back, and of course this meant working with others. I’ve learned how to work better with others in a professional setting, when learning new things and how to work with costumers. 

2014 Interview

BLOG 23

1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?

I interviewed Evan Diaz, who is in Mrs. Edwards House, North House.

2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

Marines, because I always thought of the Marines as one of those decisions that I have nothing left to lose, but everything left to protect for my country. 

3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

I plan on joining summer camps such as the Devil Pops which is basic training for the Marines but for kids who are teens, between the ages of 13 to 18. 

4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-Hour presentations?

I expect very formal presentations (clothing) or attire that goes with the topic, that people know a lot about their topic since you were able to chose the topic, you should know a lot about it. Lastly, I expect to be entertained. 

5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project?

No questions. 

Final 3-Column Chart

BLOG 22

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvUf7yrwuYvwdDZQaU1uMk4zaDcwOFY5NG1fZDRzbXc#gid=0

Independent Component 2

BLOG 21

Literal:

•  I Cherokee Michalak, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. 
• The source that helped me the most with this component is my mentor, Jolean Miller who is a Animal Control Officer at Glendora PD. 
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvUf7yrwuYvwdHJrTTFnYjY0VTFXNi1qRGd6dVBZZFE#gid=0
• For my independent component I continued working with my mentorship at Glendora PD, in the Animal Control department. Most of the time I mainly worked in the front office, filing paperwork, working on documents, doing work on the computer for licenses such as updating tickets, registration, ect. I also added up work hours for the officers, and occasionally went in the back with the animals and went on a few minor calls. 

Interpretive:

This is Vanessa Alvarez' desk in the front office where most of the time I worked on looking up Glendora residents' licenses, printing out notices and mailing them out, which took many hours. 

Front desk where animal control costumers are assisted with paying for fees, licenses or picking up/dropping off animals. 

Area in the front desk where cadets take phone calls for the station, communicate with animal control and work with costumers. This is where I worked with cadets on computers, learning new information, ect. Seen here is cadet Verduscu and a police officer filling in one of the stations. 

*See previous posts with pictures of the animal control truck, the front of the Police Department and the kennels. 

Applied:

• This component helped me answer my EQ because the more I work with Animal Control as much as I can, I can figure out which answer to my EQ is the best and most beneficence to the animals and officers protecting the animals. Since puppy mills are not very prominent in the office I work in, focusing more on spay. neutering and adopting out was more of what I focused on since you can adopt out here and spay/neutering is highly encouraged by both officers.

BLOG 20: Three Column Chart First Draft

Animal Control: Three Column Chart

BLOG 19: Senior Project and ESLRs

1. The biggest ESLR that i have excelled in for my senior project is being an effective learner.

2. By keeping in touch with my mentor, going into the station once or twice a week and keeping up with weekly blog updates/ emails from my house teacher I am being both independently successful and communicative.

This is my sister just a few days ago visiting the Police Station when as I was volunteering that day. 

BLOG 18: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #3

1. What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?

2. Permitting humane euthanizations in animal shelters as long as the animal is under severe health obstructions or cannot be helped by a veterinarian. 

3. Details:
-According to PETA, an animal organization, an animal may be permitted to be euthanized humanely only if the animal is aged, sick, injured, dying or too aggressive. 
- According to the ASPCA, they say an animal has the right to be released from suffering if such cruelties like malnutrition, disease or trauma have been encountered by the animal. 
-According to the AHC, or Animal Healthcare Center, euthanasia is a pain-free and stress- free experience for an animal in a shelter. 

4. An article I found by PETA, one of the most extreme animal rights groups titled, "Why We Euthanize" lay over the extreme conditions in which they euthanize animals. They say, if only an animal is dying, severely injured, too aggressive shall it be put to sleep humanely. Even though many see euthanizations as an inhumane act, even PETA consider euthanizing at the worst possible consequences, which does reduce overpopulation. There are so many injured dogs that come into shelters that are either too injured to help, or the costs are too high to risk, so by humanely euthanizing, this will reduce that strain of overpopulation. 

5. I plan next to look into other well know animal organizations and see their point of views on euthanizing, how many euthanizations they produce and look into kill shelters on why they do not euthanizing humanely. 

BLOG 17: Fourth Interview Questions

Questions:

1. What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?
2. Why do you think adoption rates in shelters are so low?
3. Why do you think animal overpopulation in the last 5 years has increased?
4. What is the best way to increase adoption rates in shelters?
5. What is the largest animal organization that you know of, who have influential impacts on reducing the overpopulation in animal control?
6. How do you think budget cuts on animal control facilities impact/effect adoptions and rescuing animals?
7. How many adoptions did Glendora Animal Control have in 2012? Compared to the total amount of dogs in 2012?
8. Why do pet owners choose not to adopt and instead buy from breeders and or, pet stores?
9. How do puppy mill businesses effect animal shelter and rescue adoptions?
10. What is the best solution to reducing or illegalizing puppy mills?
11. Even though puppy mills are legal, what is your take on pet stores selling puppy mill dogs?
12. How many encounters have you personally had with puppy mill investigations?
13. What is spay/neutering your cats and dogs so important to reducing overpopulation?
14. Why does it cost more for a pet owners to register/license their dog if the dog is not spay/neutered?
15. How helpful are donations to animal control facilities?
16. What are the requirements or "condition" an animal has to be in to get euthanized?
17. How many euthanizations have you done in total for 2012?
18. How does spay/ neutering keep your dog and cats healthier?
19. How big of a part do pet owners have in animal shelter overpopulation?
20. What is the biggest risk for pet owners when adoption a dog?

BLOG 16: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #2

1. My essential question is, 'What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?'
2. My second answer to my essential is question is, we need to increase the adoption rates in shelters, rescues and animal control centers  throughout the United States.
3. Details:

 -According to the American Humane Society, only 3.5 million people or 20% of pet owners in the U.S. adopt from shelters.
 -According the the ASPCA, there are approximately 5000 animal shelters in the United States that have over 5 million dogs  come in every year and typically 3.5 million of the dogs are euthanized or never adopted out.
- According to my mentor, Jolean Miller, an animal control officer at Glendora PD, the biggest reason for why people do not adopt dogs is because of their age, typically shelter dogs are over the age of 2 and when people get a new dog they want it to be a puppy or young. 

     4. Some sources that helped me prove that this answer was justified was organizations such as PETA, the ASPCA and the Humane Society because they have graphs/facts/statistics on overpopulation problems in shelters and rescues that show why people aren't adopting and what we can do to improve adoption rates. 
     5. For my second answer I plan on working with my mentor at the Glendora animal control department to see how overpopulated the facility is and also, see how many dogs she picks up and takes to the kill shelter, which is also overpopulated and low on adoptions. 

BLOG 15: Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1. For my second independent study component I plan on continuing my mentorship with the Glendora Police Station, in the animal control department. Since I am working directly in animal control, and that being my topic, it works out well. 
2. My plan will meet the 30 hours required because typical I go in to do my mentorship twice a week for 1 to 3 hours, it is right across the street so there is no excuse for not getting there. When I go in, I am able to do the paperwork required for officers, then go on calls for animals and hopefully, I can go with them to drop off the animals at the Humane Society to see the shelter side of the job. So, In 2 months i'll be able to get to 30 hours with my mentorship. 
3. My independent study component relates to my working EQ because the overpopulation in animal control is what in focusing on, and by working with animal control directly, you can see, hands on the overpopulation problem. Also, I can see how my answers to my working EQ are put into play because my mentor knows a lot about puppy mills and she works with multiple shelters/rescues. 

BLOG 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

• I, Cherokee Michalak, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
• Jolean Miller: 626-914-8275
• Independent Compt 1 Log
• For my Independent Component 1, I continued working at the Glendora Police Station, in the Animal Control Department with my mentor, Jolean Miller and the other animal control officer, Vanessa Alvarez. 

Interpretive:

 These are two cats that were in animal control, I cleaned the cages, gave the orange kitten a bath and played with them to burn out some energy. 

 This kitten was found stuck on a telephone wire over 10 feet high, the fire department rescued her and she was eventually adopted out. 

• While volunteering with Animal Control, I did multiple jobs with my mentor, another officer and some cadets working in the station. I went on calls for stray dogs and picked up wild animals, filed, did paperwork, walked many dogs, cleaned some cat cages and conducted my interviews. 

Applied:

• By working hands on with the animal control officers, whether it was working with stray dogs, not knowing if they will lash out, to chasing a dog that got hit by a car for an hour, I got a full on experience for my hours. If I didn't get my hours here, I wouldn't know how to handle wild animals properly, or how to conduct all the paperwork that is required. After seeing how many dogs come in and are stuck without homes, or who end up going to a kill shelter, I got a good grasp of how large the overpopulation of animals really is in animal control. 

BLOG 13: Rough Draft of 30 Min. Presentation

Google Docs Attachment of Rough Draft-

Animal Control- Puppy Mills: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvUf7yrwuYvwdDZKcnVWRDgtc2pONWd0ZWIydTB1Mnc#gid=0

BLOG 12: Third Interview Questions

10 Open Ended Questions for Interview 3:

1. What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?

2. How do you think animal officers help with reducing overpopulation?

3. How closely does animal control work with rescue groups or shelters?

4. By adopting, the overpopulation in shelters would reduce immensely  so why do you think people decide to not not adopt and instead buy from breeders or pet stores?

5. Euthanizing animals is one way to reduce overpopulation, some many say it is an inhuman way. How do you argue in this case, having experience?

6. What is required for the process of euthanizing animals?

7. How often do animal control agencies experience investigations on puppy mills? And if so, what is the process of investigation?

8. Currently Los Angeles County is trying to pass a law that strickens regulations on Puppy Mills, making it illegal for pet stores to receive their dogs from them. How do you feel about this law being passed?

9. How do you feel about current laws on Puppy Mills that allow large scale breeding and how the USDA handles their inspections?

10. How can you, as an animal control officer and the public, help reduce and recognize animal overpopulation?

BLOG 11: Mentorship 10 hours Check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
Currently I am doing my mentorship at the Glendora Police Station, in the Animal Control Department. 

2. Who is your contact?
My contact is the lead Animal Control officer in the Police Department, Jolean Miller. 

3. How many total hours have you done?
The total amount of hours I have completed is 40 hours so far. Overall, I have put in almost 200 hours at the Police Station with Animal Control, but most of it was for community service. Yet, this gives me more experience and knowledge of my senior project topic. 

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did. 
The 10 hours of service I did with Animal Control mostly consisted of adding up "chits" which is the total numbers of animals picked up, tickets cited, ect. I went on a few calls with an Officer and the cadets, as well as doing some filing in the office. 

5. Contact Info
Jolean Miller: 626-914-8275