Going Beyond
by Monica Lester
Published in All Creatures Magazine (Guidepost) May June 2019
“Approximately 3.3 million dogs enter the animal shelter
system in the United States every year, according to the ASPCA. These animals
face uncertain futures, but one thing is for sure. They need love and exercise.
That’s where the
cross-country team of St. Josephs High School in Orcutt, California, steps- or
runs- in. Since 2016, the team has helped Santa Barbara County Animal Services
provide exercise, socialization, and love to their shelter dogs by taking them
running.
Luis Escobar, then the teams' coach, and Stacy Silva, the
community outreach coordinator for Animal Services, came up with the idea
during the 2016 practice season. The school is a mile-and-a-half run down the
street from the shelter, and the student-athletes were always on the move. It
seemed like an ideal way to keep the dogs fit and give students the opportunity
to learn about vulnerable animals in their community.
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| St. Joe Cross-Country team with canine training partners |
“It’s a perfect relationship,” Escobar says. “The students are
running outside, and these dogs can benefit from being with them, moving and
breathing fresh air.”
Silva says that the runs are not only joyful for the animals
but clearly a bonding experience for the team as well. It’s also been a great
way to build awareness about the available animals in the shelter, which takes
care of about 6,000 dogs each year.
“We do everything we can to give these dogs a good life
while they’re in the shelter, but it is not a home,” Silva says. “So anytime
the community can help us meet the mental and physical needs of our animals
it’s a win-win.”
The cross-country
teams first run with the pups was a resounding success, due in part to a video
Escobar posted on Facebook that quickly went viral. Escobar was invited to meet
renowned dog trainee Cesar Millan and the kids on the team got to be part of
filmmaker Steven Latham’s documentary Shelter Me, about people who help shelter
animals.
“I believe the story
was so popular because it’s simply a genuine gesture of kindness,” Escobar says.
“It wasn’t contrived, and it resonated.”
There was a moment
during that first run that Escobar will never forget. One of the athletes
finished behind the rest of the pack because he was carrying an 18-month-old
terrier mix named Fred, who had no interest in running—or walking, for that
matter. “Seeing Fred’s face as he was being carried down the street was very
sweet,” “He was so appreciative that he was being loved. And that’s what this
is all about.” Luckily for Fred, that student’s family adopted him.
Today, students can
log volunteer hours for school by running with the dogs, according to Tom Mott,
St. Joseph’s dean of athletics. And the shelter has built on the foundation
that the cross-country team established by expanding its volunteer
opportunities to include Miles for Mutts, a program that encourages community
members to run with the dogs in the shelter. “When animals can get a little
extra love,” Mott says, it can go a long way.”
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