Rustem Nurullin, director of the Zoocenter: “15-20 minutes of communication with a man makes a dog kinder”

Kazan schoolchildren visit an animal shelter, where they take care of and play with pets.

Kazan schoolchildren are provided tours to the Zoocenter dog shelter, where children feed and communicate with pets and learn about the proper care. The tours, which started on April 20, are aimed at the formation of humane and responsible treatment of animals and are part of a large educational work. Today, the animal shelter was visited by fifth grade students of school No.48 of the Privolzhsky district.

Rustem Nurullin, its director, told the children about the work of the Zoocenter. Presently, there are 500 dogs in the shelter. All conditions have been created for them – heated aviaries, where the warm temperature is kept all year round, each dog has a separate kennel, with an area of 1.2 sq. m. There is also an outdoor area, designed for walking of 10 dogs at the same time.

A quarantine unit with warm floors was built on the territory of the shelter last year, where the caught dogs are kept for the first 10 days. The new unit is designed for 600 dogs per month, which has increased the total capacity of the shelter to 1,450 dogs per month.

The dogs were glad to meet new visitors. Schoolchildren did not come to the shelter empty-handed. They brought dry food with them. The staff of the shelter told the children about how to take care of dogs and how to better understand them.

Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of Kazan Iskander Giniyatullin noted that such events bring up responsible attitude to animals in children. “As a rule, it is children who insist on getting the dog, so they need to be told about animals from an early age, - he noted. -Thanks to close communication, children learn about dogs, about the difficulties they will have to face having a dog at home. After all, often the reason that the dog was on the street is the unpreparedness of the owners, and our goal is to reduce the number of homeless dogs”.

The children also visited the “dog daycare”, which opened at the shelter at the end of last year and where 26 puppies aged 4 months and older now live. Puppies are found on the streets of the city and brought to the shelter. Also, the puppies are brought by the owners, who realized that they could not take care of the animal. All pets are vaccinated. According to employees, puppies find a new home faster than adult dogs. Only since the beginning of May, 5 dogs have got new owners.

Volunteers take care of the puppies. One of them is a seventh–grader of school No.35 of the Privolzhsky district Daria Smirnova. The girl wants to get a dog, and her parents suggested that she first try to look after the animals from the shelter.

“We are looking for volunteers. Dogs need communication, 15-20 minutes of contact with a man makes a dog kinder,”- Rustem Nurullin said. He also spoke about plans to launch a special action among schoolchildren. “Those guys who most often come and help the shelter will get certificates to various stores”, - said the director of the Zoocenter.

Many of the children who visited the shelter today want to become volunteers.

Such tours for schoolchildren will be held until the end of June.