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

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"