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Their 5,000 collars will be combined with other collars to add up to 15,000 — the number of dogs euthanized each year in Kansas City. The collars will be displayed at Spay and Neuter Kansas City’s Chain of Reality project March 17-22 at Union Station.
The school’s collar project was the idea of Holliday teacher Melissa Lands Hanke, who volunteers at Spay and Neuter.
As sections of the chain began to develop Wednesday morning, the students began to visualize the scope of Kansas City’s pet overpopulation problem, Lands Hanke said.
“A child said, ‘Wow, this is a lot, but it’s so sad,’ ” she said.
The students also petted and hugged several dogs that have been rescued, including Buddy, a Labrador mix adopted by the Witt family.
Bonnie Witt, whose daughter, Claire, is a second-grader at Holliday, said several children had seen abandoned dogs in the neighborhood.
“Some want to help, some are scared of the dogs,” Witt said.
But Wednesday’s effort, Witt said, was an ideal way to show the students how they can help in the community.
“They start now and hopefully it continues throughout their lives,” she said.
Gwyn Doran, a Holliday third-grader, knows about rescuing dogs. In November her family adopted Millie, a Labrador-poodle mix just under a year old.
“I think this is important because of the overpopulation of dogs,” Gwyn said while taking a break from creating the chain. “This will help a lot of dogs.
“We are helping something that is very important to our world.”
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