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

Senior Project Update

Blog 10:

(1) Currently, for my independent component I am doing exactly what I stated in blog 7. Working at the Police Station with animal control is where I am getting most of my hours. I am working there twice a week for up to 3 hours every week, mostly with my mentor, Jolean Miller. 

(2) See blog 9b. This piece of research is helping move forward in my topic because first off, it is a possible hypothesis for my science project. Then, it is also a possible answer to my essential question. By looking at this research it helping me move on with finding more research on spay/neutering and other answering to my EQ. 

(3) See blog post " Photo's of Glendora Animal Control Volunteering"

Science Fair Proposal

Blog 9b.****  REVISED 

What is your topic? My topic is Animal Control

What is the driving problem behind your experiment and the quote by an expert to support that problem?  The driving problem behind my experiment is the overpopulation of animals in animal control facilities in the United States. Shelters, Humane societies and pound across the nation are being flooded with animals because of the issues regarding overpopulation. But, animal control/shelters across the U.S. are euthanizing a drastic amount of animals to reduce this problem, this is an unequal, unsentimental way to reduce the amount of animals. 

Quote: " ...Less than 15% of the dogs and cats brought into new homes each year are adopted from shelters and rescues....71% of people favored euthanasia for cats and dogs...Still, millions of animals are surrendered to shelters and animal control shelters every year." 

Cite: "Why Environmentalist should care about Pet Euthanasia| Latest News| Earth Island Journal| Earth Island Institute" Why Enviormentalists Should care about Pet Euthanasia| Latest News| Earth Island Journal| Earth Island Insitute. N.p, n.d. Web. Sept. 2012

What is your hypothesis? ****REVISED
If animal shelters better promote the adoptions of animals, then the rate of overpopulation in animal shelters will decrease 

Summary: For my Science Project, I planned on focusing on adoption rates in 22 shelters and comparing it to how many dogs were originally in the shelters between 2011-2012. 

For my experiment I will record my numbers from 22 shelters them compare them to how many dogs were originally in the shelter, then create slopes to see the difference. 

Project Category: Behavioral

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

Blog 9

What was the working EQ you used during your presentation?

The working EQ that I used during my 10 minute presentation was, ‘What is the best way to reduce the overpopulation of animals in animal control?’

Did you decide to revise your working EQ after your presentation? If so, write your revised EQ here. 

I am not going revise my EQ at this time.

What are possible answers to your current working EQ?

Possible answers to reducing the overpopulation of animals in animal control would be reducing the amount of puppy mills and breeders in the US, increase the amount of adoptions from shelters and humane societies, advise the public about law enforcements on breeding, neutering, ect and lastly, neutering or saying your animals. The biggest issue and the ones that I have found a lot of research on would be spay/neutering your animals and adopting more domestic animals from shelters.