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2008 Animal Care Summer Camps
2008 Camp List (PDF)
Summer Camp Application (PDF)
2008 Summer Camp Descriptions
Registration Information
Volunteer Camp Assistant Information
Frequently Asked Questions
Camp Descriptions
Junior Animal Camp - Going into: 1st and 2nd Grades
Session 1
Monday, June 16 - Friday, June 20
9 a.m. - Noon
Session 2
Monday, June 23 - Friday, June 27
9 a.m. - Noon
$150 registration fee
Animal-centered arts and crafts, fun and games, and Animal Ambassadors.
20 campers per week/5 camp assistants per week
Animal Care Camp - Going into: 3rd and 4th Grades
Session 3
Monday, June 30 - Friday, July 4
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Session 4
Monday, July 7 - Friday, July 11
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Session 5
Monday, July 14 - Friday, July 18
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
$250 registration fee
An introduction to basic animal care plus animal-centered arts and crafts, fun and games, and Animal Ambassadors.
20 campers per week/5 camp assistants per week
Senior Animal Care Camp - Going into: 5th and 6th Grades
Session 6
Monday, July 21 - Friday, July 25
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Session 7
Monday, July 28 - Friday, August 1
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Session 8
Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 8
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Session 9
Monday, August 11 - Friday, August 15
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
$250 registration fee
An introduction to careers working with animals and basic animal care plus animal-centered arts and crafts, fun and games, and Animal Ambassadors.
16 campers per week/4 camp assistants per week
Specialty Camps - Going into: 6th - 9th grades
Cat Camp
Monday, July 14 - Friday, July 18
9 a.m. - Noon
$150 registration fee
Calling all cat lovers. This camp is the purrfect place to learn about feline health, care and behavior. Classroom time will be balanced with opportunities to observe and care for cats in our shelter.
12 campers per session
Dog Camp
Monday, July 21 - Friday, July 25
9 a.m. - Noon
$150 registration fee
Dog crazy teens will love this camp which focuses on the history, behavior, care and training of the canine. Classroom time will be balanced with opportunities to train volunteer dogs.
12 campers per session
Vet Camp
Monday, July 28 - Friday, August 1
9 a.m. - Noon
$150 registration fee
This camp provides a wonderful introduction to veterinary medicine and is a perfect first step for any student interested in a career in the field. Classroom time will be balanced with opportunities for observation in the MHS Veterinary Clinic and Shelter Medicine Department. A field trip to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine takes place on the last day of this camp.
12 campers per session
Registration Information
The Marin Humane Society's Summer Camp Registration Lottery will be done by mail only. Mail your application form (link to application above) to:
Animal Care Camp
Marin Humane Society
171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd.
Novato, CA 94949
- We are not able to accept walk-in registrations.
- Our registration is done by lottery. By submitting a Camp Registration form you will secure a spot in the lottery.
- All forms must be received by mail no later than Monday, March 17, 2008.
- Please do not include a check with your application form.
- If you wish to "link" your child with another student in the lottery please do so in the appropriate space on the registration form. Linking means that if one student gets in the other one automatically does as well. This is useful in the case of siblings or campers who will need to carpool together. You may only link with one other camp applicant.
- Rosters will be posted on our Web site by Friday, March 28, 2008. Within two weeks, campers will receive a letter of acceptance and a request for registration payment.
- All registration fees must be received by Friday, June 6, 2008 to secure your child's place in camp. Placement in summer camp will be forfeited if payment is not received by June 6, 2008.
Dates to remember:
March 17 - Applications due
March 28 - Lottery selections posted on Web site
June 6 - Registration fees due for all campers selected by lottery
Volunteer Camp Assistant Information
If you are entering 7th - 12th grade in the fall, love animals and enjoy working with younger kids, you may volunteer as a Summer Animal Care Camp Assistant. You may volunteer for one week-long camp session this summer and earn community service credit for your effort. Camp Assistants help young campers with projects and assist the camp staff with the handling of our Animal Ambassadors. Each Camp Assistant works directly with a group of 4-5 campers for the entire camp session (Monday - Friday).
Students in the 7th and 8th grade may volunteer as an Assistant in the 1st - 4th Grade Camps only. Students in the 9th grade and higher may volunteer as an Assistant for any camp session.
There is a $25 activity fee for all Camp Assistants which covers the cost of a camp t-shirt and daily snacks.
Mail your application form (link to application above) to:
Animal Care Camp
Marin Humane Society
171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd.
Novato, CA 94949
- All forms must be received by Friday, March 17, 2007.
- We are not able to accept walk-in registrations.
- Preference is given to former campers, camp assistants and MHS student volunteers. Any remaining spots will open to all other applicants and sorted by lottery.
- Please do not include a check with your application form.
- Rosters will be posted on our Web site by Friday, March 28, 2008. Within two weeks, campers will receive a letter of acceptance and a request for registration payment.
- All registration fees must be received by Friday, June 6, 2008 to secure your child's place in camp. Placement in summer camp will be forfeited if payment is not received by June 6, 2008.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why do you pick your campers through a lottery system?
A. We typically receive over twice as many applications as we have available positions. We used to do in-person sign-ups on a Saturday morning here at the shelter. We received many complaints about that system as, even though registration didn’t start until 9 a.m., some parents were showing up as early as 4 a.m. and trying to hold spots in line for others. The lottery system is impartial – every child now has an equal chance of getting in and parents don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn just to find they were beaten out of a spot by someone who arrived just a few minutes earlier!
Q. May my child attend more than one week of camp?
A. Due to the fact that we receive several hundred camp applications each summer, we must unfortunately limit a camper to attending for one week should they be picked through the lottery system.
Q. Why are there fewer kids in the Senior Animal Care Camps than in the other camp sessions?
A. Evaluations of previous camp years indicated that most parents wanted their older children to have more hands-on time with the animals and more time participating in activities "behind the scenes" at the shelter. We wanted that too! The only way to accomplish it was to limit the number of kids in the older sessions so that we could have a better camper to adult ratio. Due to liability issues, all children interacting with animals at MHS must be under direct adult supervision at all times and smaller groups allow for more hands-on time per child.
Q. Will my child spend most of the day working directly with animals?
A. Everything we do at camp is aimed at teaching children about animal care, handling, and welfare. We strive to give our campers an opportunity to interact with several animals each day. However, we are an open-door animal shelter that cares for all animals including some that may be sick, injured, and sometimes aggressive. Our ability to have kids interact with animals relies entirely on the types of animals who are in residence during the camp season. Our two top priorities are to provide our campers with a safe and fun experience and also to prevent our resident animals from any undue stress. Some animals simply cannot handle the attention of twenty children at a time and we endeavor to teach the children to respect the needs of each individual animal. That being said, when a gentle bunny, curious rat, kid-loving dog or playful bunch of kittens comes through the shelter, the camp kids are definitely given opportunity to interact with them. In addition, activities like dog trainng and animal socializing with guest animal ambassadors are the highlight of the week for many of our campers.
Q. May my child bring their own animal to camp?
A. While you may have a wonderfully sound dog and a child who is very experienced at handling him, we can’t guarantee that of all our campers and their pets. In the interest of keeping both the children and the animals safe, we ask you to leave your pets at home. We will make sure the campers have opportunities to interact with animals who we know are behaviorally appropriate to work with children.
Q. Why don’t you expand your camp sessions in order to accommodate more children each summer?
A. We currently run sessions from the Monday after school gets out in June until just one week prior to the start of school in August. As we only have one room available at the shelter in which to hold camp, it is not possible to run multiple sessions at one time. We have added four extra weeks of camp and increased the number of kids per session over the last few years. We would love to expand the camp even further and hope that some day we will have a larger facility to accomodate that dream!
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