A Connecticut children’s museum has discovered that, thanks to the Mutt-i-grees® Curriculum, a visit to the museum can teach kids a lot about shelter pets, while encouraging them to become activists and advocates for rescue.

Stepping Stones Steps Up

Stepping Stones Children’s Museum, in Norwalk, Conn., has implemented the Mutt-i-grees® Curriculum in a variety of novel, “paws-on” ways.

Not long ago, for instance, the museum held an “extended Mutt-i-grees” session, during which one of our National Mutt-i-grees Student Ambassadors, Eve (Stevie) Guevara, read “Sally Goes to the Vet” to four attentive rescue dogs and a crowd of visitors, both children and adults.

The dogs were invited guests from Norwalk PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Society), whose day at the museum was a fun “field trip,” providing socialization and time away from the shelter. The four dogs were Andy, an 8-year-old Black Lab mix; Hoffman, an 18-month-old Yellow Lab/Pit Bull mix; Robin, a 1-year-old mix; and Mojito, a 9-year-old Chihuahua mix who’d been adopted just hours earlier.

Despite the new surroundings and kid-energy, the dogs were patient, well-behaved museum-goers who appeared to enjoy watching as the children engaged in all kinds of Mutt-i-grees activities, including making greeting cards filled with biscuits for PAWS dogs who couldn’t attend this special event.

Just by being excellent dogs, these Mutt-i-grees helped the museum’s MUTTS Club raise more than $50 for PAWS in only two hours. And equally important, the dogs and the students collaborated to share the Mutt-i-grees message of empathy and resilience with more than 320 museum visitors.

Stepping Stones plans to continue supporting Norwalk PAWS and shelter pets nationwide through upcoming events, including an obstacle course and adoption awareness event. National Student Mutt-i-grees Ambassadors like Eve Guevara and her colleague ambassador at Stepping Stones, Jennifer Costa, are making the Mutt-i-gree mission a vital part of communities from coast to coast.