VIDEO: Grade 5s ask SPCA animals to be their Valentine

A little girl looked down at Remi the dog, who was saved from freezing to death in Stony Rapids, and said “she’s too cute to be a stray.”

Remi was flown in to Prince Albert’s SPCA after she was found stranded over a month ago, and is now up for adoption.

“It makes me feel sad that people just reject their pets and just leave them out as strays, so they have no home or food,” Sarah Wiberg said.

That statement was one of many made by the Grade 5 students at Ecole St. Anne that assures the future is bright for pets in Prince Albert.

When the class picked its service project this year, the students’ love of animals led them to make treats and Valentine’s Day cards for those at the SPCA.

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Valentine’s Day had a special meaning for the kids, Wiberg said.

“We wanted all the animals to have treats, and so that they’re not rejected. People still do love them, even though they don’t have them.”

Tyra Pocha was excited to see how Remi would react to the treats they’d made at the school. The special ingredient of bacon seemed to do the trick for Remi, who is still waiting to be adopted from the SPCA.

The SPCA’s Megan Boucher visited the class with Remi to accept the gifts and field questions about the non-profit organization and the animals that stay there.

Pocha said she’s heard about animal abuse in Prince Albert, and “I feel mad that other people are mistreating them.”

She said hearing those bad stories encourages her to be nice to animals because “I’m an animal lover and stuff, so I always take care of them.”

Wiberg, who has five pets, said she can’t comprehend why people would let cats and animals roam around without treating them well.

Evan DeBack has a dog as well, and admitted he and his peers were more excited than usual to ask questions in class.

For DeBack, the most important question was whether or not his favourite cat Stanley had been adopted from the SPCA yet.

Student Taylor Robin already has two cats, but said the SPCA’s visit to Ecole St. Anne made her want even more pets to have fun.

She added that it’s comforting to know how much love, care, and respect the SPCA gives to the animals it cares for.

“They teach you how to love them and how caring they are,” Robin said.

Wiberg said she believe animals deserve the same treatment as people.

“We also have responsibilities, and we have to take care of the animals. Sometimes animals take care of us too,” she concluded.

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk