4th Graders Writing Project Helps Homeless Dogs & Cats

Tiffani Murphy, a writing teacher at Ebb Valley Elementary in Manchester, is an animal lover.  She decided to share her compassion for animals with her fourth graders and came up with a writing project – compose a persuasive letter in the words of a homeless animal explaining why they should be adopted. 

The children each chose a dog or cat listed on the Baltimore Humane Society website at bmorehumane.org.  Thirty-seven letters in all were written, then sent to the no-kill shelter in Reisterstown. The letters were laminated and posted on each of the corresponding animal’s kennel.  Baltimore Humane Society believes these letters just may be helping the dogs and cats find their forever homes.  After all, there’s nothing more persuasive than a child’s honesty.

When you read the letters, you’ll see excerpts like:

·         “Please adopt me.  You will not regret it. I promise.  If you give me a ball of yarn you can play with me. If you adopt me you can buy me a toy, which does not cost that much and you can play fetch with me.” 

·         “I will love and care for you and will always want to be with you, but not in the freaky way. I would protect you and be child friendly.” 

·         “Do you like mice?  Well, if not I’m your girl!”

·         “Cats are supposed to curious creatures, right?  Well, I can’t when I‘m in this cage... I really don’t want to get fat so I need some exercise.  My worst nightmare is my belly flopping on the ground because of my weight.” 

·         “I will protect whoever adopts me from danger. I’m sad and lonely, and I need a home so pplleeaassee, pretty please with cherries on top, adopt me.”

·         “She would rather have a warm home than a crate with tons of animals around her like dogs, cats, and birds. It’s not fun with comosion… it would make my day, and I bet you would be proud of your self to.” 

·         “She is five years old and desperately needs a warm hug.” 

·         “Have you ever had a wish or dream come true?  Well, mine is to have a real family and a real home.” 

·          “Cuddles loves to purr all day and night even if she does sleep a lot. Even better, she comes with her own built-in brush (her tongue!)” 

·         “Dogs and cats all want family.  In their cages they get lonely.” 

Pictures of the children visiting the animals at Baltimore Humane Society on May 28th are  in the accompanying photo gallery along with the profile letters.

About the Baltimore Humane Society

The Baltimore Humane Society, founded in 1927 by Mrs. Elsie Seeger Barton, is an independent, non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, which offers low-cost veterinary care to the public, and a pet cemetery with grief support services.  We receive no operational funding from the local or federal governments, or any national animal welfare organizations.  For more information about BHS, and how you can contribute, volunteer, adopt, or foster, please visit www.bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848.