Green Chimneys

We're eagerly awaiting three homeless ducklings. They're on their way here from New York City's Social Tees Animal Rescue, founded by Robert Shapiro.

Apparently, a soft-hearted, albeit misguided, resident of New York City's  East Village saw an ad online and ordered what he thought would be fun house pets--three female mallard ducklings.  It's not legal to keep wildlife as pets in NYC,  but the newborn ducklings were shipped out anyway, arriving via USPS, in a cardboard box. Many indoor duck poops later, many poops, he realized his mistake and brought them to Social Tees asking for help in finding them a proper home. Social Tees rescues the usual dogs and cats, taking abandoned animals from the kill shelters and providing them with a safe haven and veterinary care until they are placed in a proper home. But Robert himself is also known as the East Village go-to guy for information on exotics like reptiles and lizards.

When you live in the East Village, ducks are exotic!

Social Tees posted a picture on their Facebook page,  along with a request for a home for the babies.  That's where Green Chimneys stepped in. We haven’t seen them yet, but I’m told that while they’re still downy with not a feather amongst them yet, one of them had their first "quack" today.

The Mayors Alliance for NYC's Animals will deliver them either today or tomorrow. Since today is almost over, I expect they'll show up on Wednesday. I'll have pictures for you on Thursday, after they've settled nicely into our Wildlife Center.

So…be on the lookout next time you visit for three teeny downy ducklings…

Tags: animal rescue | ducklings | social tees

We've got a welcome addition to the Children's Garden - a brand new gazebo thanks to a grant from Entergy (Big thanks to Entergry!)

It’s a work in progress, but we've already got it set up with a big whiteboard for teaching, comfortable chairs, wind chimes and someone has already set up house in the bird house just outside the gazebo door.  When we're completely done it'll be handicap accessible and we'll have a ceramic top table designed to flip for use as a buffet table and benches that double as storage cabinets, so the gazebo can accommodate workshops and meetings. Rainbarrels will catch the fresh rainwater for us to use on the nearby plant beds.

There is no electricity, but it'll be availble on weekends during daylight hours and a lovely place to take a cup of tea and watch the garden grow*....

*April 19th is National Garlic Day - as you can see by the little Garlic sign peeping in that photo, we're prepared.

Tags: Childrens Garden | Tracy Chamberlin

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner. Towns and cities across the country are looking forward to parades, green bagels and corned beef and cabbage. Gardners and farmers know St. Patricks heralds a time honored tradition of planting the season's first peas. Planting this week means you'll have fresh garden peas for snacking, salads or steaming by early May.

Green Chimneys' not-so-secret Gardener's secret: Peas love coffee, or more accurately, coffee grounds. If you haven't been saving your coffee grounds all winter, your local coffee shop will probably be happy to donate some as a way of saying Thank You for your patronage.

What's your favorite way to enjoy fresh garden peas? Straight from the pod? Steamed with some mint? Tossed with butter and pasta?

Tags: Gardening Secrets | Childrens Garden | Tracy Chamberlin

This past week Mr. Fluffy Pants died. As roosters goes he was ancient and had lived his entire life at Green Chimneys. Fluffy Pants was unique. Chickens come in many breed varieties; all are different in size, color, history and were developed for different purposes. Fluffy Pants was a miniature Cochin chicken, an ornamental small breed originally hailing from Asia.

Now I must admit that roosters generally are not my favorite animals on the farm. 99% of all roosters demonstrate normal behaviors that make them difficult to like. Most notably roosters get territorial, they defend their turf and admirably protect all of the hens that might be in their coop. This aggression can become so strong, that any person entering the area get’s attacked with a sharp beak and pointed spurs on the rooster’s feet. That hurts and is intimidating, especially when all one is trying to do is to bring food and water to his "royal roosterness". Most people at the farm are inimidated by the few roosters we have. Roosters also can be very mean and rough with their hens and can be absolutely intolerant of other roosters. They boss, they bully; they strut and generally crow their superiority into the world, often looking beautiful but acting incompatible with the human and fowl world around them.

Fluffy Pants was made of different stuff. Though small, he certainly was a handsome rooster. He had silvery points on shiny black feathers and had a thick short tail of iridescent plumes. His comb was bright red and two fine whattles hung on either side of his bill. Most of all he had billowy down around his legs and big wheel shaped feathery fans covering both his feet, making him look as if he was walking on snowshoes. It is those feathers that led to him being called by his name.

But Fluffy Pants had so much more going for him. Compared to his kin he was a gentle, kind and tolerant rooster. He lived with his hens in peace, never attacked interns or children when they entered his domain and was compatible with just about any fowl he came across. This mellow behavior made him a favorite at the farm. For many years Fluffy Pants traveled around with our mobile Farm-on-the-Moove Program, visiting schools and nursing homes, always displaying his social nature and easy going approach to life. He loved to sit on peoples laps, enjoyed getting petted and having his chin scratched.

Why was Fluffy Pants so different? What made him so unique among roosters to totally fall outside the norm for his kind? We never knew. We have had other Cochin roosters that were not nearly as personable. No, it goes deeper than that. When animal people talk about a creature having “personality”, we often are sneered at by scientists or those who just don’t “get” animals - but hey – Fluffy had personality. He was unique. He just plain was a nice guy, I mean a nice rooster.

It just seems fitting to tell everyone about Fluffy Pants having died - or maybe, to tell everyone that he had lived. In his way, he made an impact on his caretakers, on the children here, on the public who met him. One might close his story by sending this feathered friend off with a heartfelt “Rest in Peace”!

But really, what Fluffy Pants taught us all is that even when 99 roosters around you give in to acting like bullies and thugs – all it takes is one rooster to set the example of how one can LIVE in peace.

 

Tags: Animal Assisted Therapy | Human Animal Bond | Michael Kaufman

Young people often ask how to “get started” in the animal assisted therapy and activity field. Certainly going to school, studying and getting degrees in one of the helping professions can be a vital part of gaining knowledge, experience and stature as a professional in a growing field.

But sometimes I look at those people – mostly in their early twenties - and realize that in some ways they already have missed the boat. While many have an affinity for animals, they have very little real experience “being” around them. Yet what helped me to become comfortable with working around horses, farm animals, wildlife and pets - are the years between my early childhood and late teens, when I was lucky enough to be in the presence of living animals on farms, at a zoo, at horse barns and in other animal facilities. Days, weeks, seasons and years spent in the presence of all kinds of species, at all hours of the day and night are what gave me the capacity to effectively work with animals in a therapeutic environment later on as a professional.

Animal people in part are born - but they must have the opportunity to experience animals early in the presence of skilled mentors in order to become good handlers, good riders; good readers of animal behavior and also good translators of animal behavior for other people. Having good mentors allows age-old wisdoms and truths about animals to be transmitted to the next generation. The informal learning I gained from every zoo- keeper, farmer, horse trader or dog handler I worked with has given me more depth and information of value, than anything I learned about animals in any academic course. In the therapeutic context of AAA/T, the confidence, and animal management skills learned from these individuals continues to be instrumental.

One of the obstacles today is the increasing lack of access children and young people have to animals. Most animal shelters do not accept child volunteers for “liability” reasons. Kids can’t just go the local zoo to “help” take care of animals like I did. Even many therapeutic riding centers do not allow children and teens to work with their horses and riders as volunteers. So increasingly the questions is this: For those who have an affinity for animals and who want to become professional masters of all things animal, the chances to do so are becoming rare. Where does one go to be a “barn rat” and to complete an in depth apprenticeship? Who will accept the liability of teaching tomorrows leaders in the field about animal births, animal death, feeding practices, safety strategies; good horse handling skills in all types of weather?

My own life experience is evidence that in order to become a (reasonably) skilled practitioner in animal assisted therapy and activities - there is no substitute for a lifetime of living with and around animals.

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

Sometime during this past summer the word “seriously” took on a new meaning in popular culture.

Said with just the right tone of jaded sarcasm and with an ascending question mark at the end – the word is now used by our students, teachers and other staff on a regular basis to express disbelief, mild annoyance and frustration.

I don’t pick up on these trends myself. As a matter of fact I stubbornly avoid them.

Having rejected the pop moments of “You Go Girl”, of “BFFL” and (for decades now) not having given in to the perennial favorite “cool”, I am pretty immune to these semantic trends.

One of my daily activities as the farm director at Green Chimneys is to answer phone calls from the general public as people seek information, advice and support with almost any animal related problem. Especially people looking to find new homes for animals they no longer can keep are a staple.

Day in and day out we are offered rabbits, mice, cows, pigs, horses, llamas, ferrets and parrots. If people keep it as a pet, we are offered that kind of animal at some point.

Saying no – politely -- has become my stock and trade. We are not a limitless animal shelter and since we make a lifetime commitment to each animal that lives here -- and only try to keep animals that work well within our educational and therapeutic programs, we just can’t take them all. So instead, we try to provide resources, addresses of other groups, education and often advice on how the person can keep the animal they are looking to re-home.

Some of the stories are really sad -- a woman is being evicted from her home and must find immediate placement for her four beloved horses. An old man is moving into a nursing home and can’t take all of his cats with him. A kind young family has taken in a stray pot bellied pig (yes, a stray found roaming in their sub-division) and want to make sure the pig finds a great home; since legally they can’t keep it on their property.

But then there are those calls that mystify, that tempt one to question the motives of the caller.

The telephone rings. I answer. A young woman is on the line. In a Long Island accent straight out of central casting she asked “Will you people take my son’s guinea pig? It’s real nice and we would give it to you with the cage and with all the stuff.”

Since we are offered unwanted guinea pigs on a daily basis - I immediately went into my “sorry we can’t” mode and asked her politely why she was parting with this pet.

“Well!” she went on, taking a deep breath. “You see, my son Shawn has had Susie the pig for about five years.  He now wants a dog, so we are getting a puppy, and we can’t keep both at the same time.”

I explained that finding homes for adult guinea pigs is not easy, and that they only live between four and seven years. At age five Susie was a pretty old guinea pig and probably very used to living at her house. Who would possibly want a geriatric piggy like this? This situation had me stumped, but I usually try not to judge and refrain from telling people what I really think unless invited.

She fussed a bit and went on about her son “loosing interest” and “it being so much work” and then she opened the door for me:

“Well what do you think, what would you do in my position?” she asked in frustration.

Ok, now she had asked me directly, so I formulated my reply as diplomatically as I could.

“For one, we here at Green Chimneys teach our students that having a pet is a lifetime commitment, and that animals are not disposable.” Silence at the other end.

“Also, we know for a fact that dogs and guineas pigs can live happily in the same household once accustomed to each other, no problem there.” The silence deepened.

“It just seems really sad to me that a child and family would pass on a very old guinea pig, just because a new pet is in the wings. What kind of a lesson about commitment is that modeling for Shawn?”

No reply.

“Your Susie will die soon anyhow, why not let her live out her life in the home she knows with the people who have cared for her? Am I making any sense?” I closed cautiously.

On the count of three she fired back: “Yeah, I see; whatever! You know, the pig has always stunk and I just don’t want the mess around anymore. Shawn wants a puppy, and we saw a cute one in the pet shop, so you know, I’m sorry I called you people. You’ve been no help at all!”

Then she hung up on me, the line went dead.

I just sat there with the phone still in my hand.

Just then, as I put the receiver down – and without thinking - I heard myself say it – to no one in particular - just into the room:

“S e r i o u s l y?”

I have to admit - saying it made me feel a little better.

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

We are frequently asked “When doing animal assisted activities, how do you pair up children with individual animals, how do you know who will get along with whom?”

The simple answer is we don’t.

We do bring the children to the farm, introduce them to the almost 200 animals we have, but one can never tell who will be drawn to whom. The bashful little girl will attach to the largest draft horse, while the tough teenage boy, will bond with a tiny bunny. Each seeks and finds in the animal they choose the traits, behaviors, support and reflections that they need.

Lucy is an African Goose, a brown domesticated waterfowl that has lived at the farm for the last few years. Lucy is imprinted on people, meaning that when she hatched out of her egg as a gosling, the first moving object she saw was a person. Hence people became her bonded mother image. So for the rest of her life, Lucy will be drawn to humans, courting them, following them, loving to sit next to people. She enjoys human contact and is extremely gregarious.

Marco, a seven year old little boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome goes to school here right now. At first glance he does not look like he has any difficulties in life, but he has substantial sensory integration issues, has difficulty in social situations and often is obsessively focused with certain objects of interest. In class he can often appear stubborn, distracted and even oppositional. He processes information in unique ways. He has a strange attraction to sounds, bells, buzzers; he loves the crackly sounds of the school announcement system.

The first time Marco came to the farm he walked by Lucy - who upon seeing him honked loudly in a typical goose salutation. Marco immediately was fascinated with the goose, sitting down and just starring at her through the wire of her pen. Once he had been introduced, he kept asking questions about Lucy and over the next week again and again came to the farm to see his new friend. A bond had been formed, and soon everyone knew that Marco thought the world of Lucy and that Lucy had taken a shine to this little boy.

Over the next few weeks, the teachers and Marco’s therapist noticed that while initially he had become obsessed with Lucy in a similar way as had focused in on buzzers and bells, this fascination was different and had a positive therapeutic benefit. Most notably he was able to express his feelings about the bird and often spoke about her to both adults and peers. Lucy was making him a much more social and interactive child, prompting this child to communicate and relate to the outside world.

Not everyone understands that the animals also have a choice in building the relationship. They too have to “click” with a person, and just because the child likes an animal does not mean the animal automatically likes that child back.

But Lucy and Marco where a match!

It just so happens that as part of a new program we held an activity one recent afternoon where all of the students could select an animal at the farm that made them “feel safe”- and to have their photo taken with that animals. The picture subsequently would be put on a little ID card that the child would wear all the time. The idea behind the effort was to give our kids a tangible support object to hold on to, when they feel themselves getting upset or going into a crisis. The photo with their animal friend and a short list of individualized coping skills (such as taking deep breaths, talking to a teacher and so on) would remind them to stay calm and not get angry or sad, no matter where they find themselves at the time. But the visual reminder of their favorite animal in the picture surely would be the most powerful image to help them.

On the day, groups of kids came to the farm with their teachers and students went about selecting goats, horses, sheep and other farm animals to pose with. When it came time for Marco to choose the animal that made him feel safe - naturally he zoomed in on his friend Lucy.

“See” he yelled, “she is calling to me, Lucy is just the best.”, and sure enough, the brown goose was honking excitedly in her pen as Marco approached. I personally went in to pick up the bulky but rather light bird and carried her outside the pen, so that Marco could crouch down beside her and have his picture taken with Lucy. Both held perfectly still as the camera clicked away, him smiling, petting the shiny feathers on the birds head, mesmerized by her presence. Lucy also was extremely comfortable, enjoying the attention.

Once the picture had been taken, I gently lifted the goose up and prepared Marco that I was about to take her back into her pen. Marco kept petting Lucy and exclaimed cheerfully “So long Lucy, see you again tomorrow” and in a split second he lowered his head toward her. Before I knew what had happened he had given his feathered friend a gentle kiss on the head.

So you see, we really do not pair up the children with animals – it’s an organic process that just happens. The affection that exists between a little boy and his goose can’t be predicted or forced!

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

It is often claimed that animals can hold up a mirror to people – that somehow we can see ourselves in their behaviors and in their presence. But how does that work at Green Chimneys?

A Cotswold ewe gave birth to twin lambs. She rejected one of them, not allowing it to nurse. Our barn manager tried to shift the lamb under the nose of a neighboring sheep that also just had given birth to a single lamb. That ewe miraculously started to sniff the strange baby at first, then licked it and soon the adoptee was nursing. Interestingly some of our children who originally came from Russian orphanages, who had been adopted into American homes (and who now were experiencing adjustment problems that led them to be placed in our treatment) were especially drawn to the little lamb that “was rejected by her mother and now is living in an adoptive family”.

Jeremy came rushing across the farm yard with his psychologist in tow. “Mr. Kaufmann” he yelled, “Hurry. There is a baby peacock hurt, lying on the ground in pain and the mean mother is not letting us near it to take care of it. You have to come and help.” As always we accept the statement of the child and take it seriously, though on this pretty fall day, I had no doubt that the peacocks probably were just sunning in a dust bath. Sure enough, after we walked to where the birds were, all was well. Is it a surprise that Jeremy was currently in crisis himself and is having major issues at home with his own mother. Just perhaps he saw himself in the image of that little peacock he feared was hurt?

Romeo was a very special horse here. He had survived abuse, neglect and exploitation. The ASPCA had rescued him and placed him at Green Chimneys for nine years of wonderful life. Recently Romeo had to be euthanized due to age related infirmity. The children were told of his passing after the fact, with the entire campus staff helping them to accept the loss and to process their feelings. One child had an especially hard time with the passing- he did not even want to go into the now empty stall where Romeo had lived. “It smells just like my grandmas house after she died” he said. Following that statement, his therapist and he (for the first time) had a long conversation about how the death of his grandmother was impacting him. The death of the horse, connected him with his feelings about his family loss.

Our wildlife staff and students had nursed a red tailed hawk for several weeks. One of our students was to participate in the release. On the day she joined her social worker and the wildlife caretaker. Together they held the bird, standing in a half circle at the edge of large meadow. “What do we wish this little guy?” asked the social worker. “Find your family, don’t come back, have a great life. Be strong and soar high” exclaimed the girl in an excited voice as the team gently tossed the bird into the wind. As the hawk soared into the sky the girl added “We will miss you.” The following week she was discharged to her family – and her social worker and the wildlife caretaker echoed the very words the child had wished the hawk – for her future.

That is how the animals mirror our feelings, situations and current state of mind.

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

The recycling program in the Dining Hall is taking off!  Students and their teachers are now helping G.E.T. Green committee members to guide diners to the correct bins to dispose of their plastics, aluminum and food waste.  Soon, we hope to weigh a day's worth of recyclables and food waste in order to determine how much we are diverting from the land fill.

 

See our Dining Hall Recycling Rhyme below...

 

Tags: G.E.T. Green | Alice Sipple

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Visitors who come to Green Chimneys sometimes have a very idealized and even fuzzy interpretation of the human/animal bond - and often the interactions between people and animals are indeed miraculous and life changing (see my last blog about Hazel the sheep).

But the human animal bond sometimes can also be outright funny; at other times days pass when things are unremarkable and even ordinary. On occasion - often without much notice - the interactions can become dangerous.

A few days ago we had the visit of some guests who were going to take photographs of the Green Chimneys children, interacting with some of their farm animals for a coffee table book on the human/animal bond. Several students volunteered to be photographed and so three children, myself; the photographer and two other adults headed to the Upper Barn to find some nice moments to document between the children and animals.

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day, clear, bright, fresh and – windy. Actually, it was gusty – really windy – and the wild black vultures that live around here were dive bombing in the sky above, relishing the wild almost out of control ride they could catch on each wave of wind bluster.

Our small group entered the cow pasture to visit Quarter, our Ayrshire cow and a young steer name Sylvester. They were grazing at the top of the hill. Both are generally placid beasts, who love people and have the patience of Jobe with our children. The three kids  approached the gentle bovines, patted them, scratched their thick hides and the photographer just clicked away in amazement at the gentleness of the moments of connection she saw. The windy fall day and sun framed the scene.

Once the photos had been taken, we said good buy to the two cows and slowly walked down the hill as the animals lowered their huge skulls and started to graze again. We were almost back to the bottom gate that exits the pasture- when the unexpected happened.

Keep in mind – the wind still was blowing, the leaves were being swept across that pasture – and the two cows suddenly became energized by a delightful jolt of air and became super animated.

Without warning the two fifteen hundred pound bovines came galloping, careening and buck jumping down the hill toward our little group. Whoohooo, was their sentiment - yippee, WIND - what fun, come play with us some more!!!

I placed myself in front of the guests and children, not certain if Quarter and Sylvester would stop – or if they would simply barrel down the hill and bolt right through us. At the last minute they turned away, crow hopping into the wind away from us- back up the hill before coming to a stop with their tails held high over their backs.

They never intended to do any harm - and no one got hurt. We all laughed at the silly cow’s playfulness.

But after 25 years of facilitating interaction in animals assisted therapy and activities, I was very aware how quickly this whole thing could have “gone south”. It’s always that way when working with people and animals.

One can never let ones guard down. No matter how gentle a therapy dog is; no matter how many times one has worked with a horse, guinea pig or cow. There always is the risk of the unexpected.

Animals are animals - they operate by their own instincts, behaviors, moods and feelings. Their perception of the therapeutic interaction is theirs alone – those of us who implement this work must always monitor and anticipate their various ways of reacting. Naturally we also must always monitor the people we work with, because they too can react in surprising ways, sometime causing the animals to react unexpectedly.

In the end everyone was safe and nothing terrible happened at all, other than a funny little moment.

But all it takes is some people, two gentle cows and a windy day… 

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

We do not have sufficient academic research to validate the benefit of the interactions- many academicians consider this a major weakness in the human/animal bond programming field.

 

How do you know it really works and if you can’t prove it, then it is not real! This reproach often is followed by a dismissive “All of your evidence about the impact animals have on people is anecdotal, sentimental stories that do not amount to much.”

 

Well yesterday I became a small part of a story that makes for one heck of a sentimental anecdote about the human/animal bond.

 

It was four in the afternoon on a Friday and my office phone rang. I picked it up and on the other end was a man’s voice. He sounded a little anxious and asked if he could have a moment of my time. He gave me his name and then went on:

 

“I was a student at Green Chimneys many years ago and I now have a professional degree and am going back to school. I just would like to get some written materials about the farm and the animals that I can include in the application to show what I did on the farm with the animals when I was a child.”

 

As the man talked he started to reconnect with his time at the farm. “Is the barn still there” he asked. “Yes” I replied “of course it is.”

 

Feeling a little less anxious he started to tell me about the animals during his time here and that he primarily worked with the livestock “I loved the sheep, fed them, cleaned their stalls - my favorite was one named Hazel. I even showed her at the 4-H Fair. She was special, but I know she died many years ago so you would not know her.”

 

I paused and then told him, “Hazel, the black-and-white Jacobs sheep? She is very much alive, by now she is our great-grandmother sheep, ancient, but very much alive”.

 

The other end of the line went silent; then the man started to stammer excitedly, “She is alive! No way, for real? Hazel? After all this time?” He could not get over it.

 

We continued to talk about his time at Green Chimneys. He could not remember many names of staff. The adults and the professionals that had worked with him had become a blur over the long years – names and faces erased by time.

 

But what remained in his memory and heart was Hazel - the old sheep - an animal that meant something to him at a time in his life when things were not so good. That special feeling, the warm connection to that animal was as real and alive to him today, as when he hugged that wooly fleece as a small boy.

 

A sentimental story - yes. It’s just an anecdote? Perhaps

 

But this conversation once again made me certain that animals have a profound power to connect our lives to the best parts of ourselves.

 

Just before I hung up the phone the man quietly said: “May I come and visit Hazel? I still can’t believe it. I have to see her again.”

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

Our big event of the summer was the Putnam County 4-H Fair.  Each year our Green Chimneys students show livestock, but this year we had more kids involved than ever.  About 60 kids prepared all summer long to show Cattle, Pigs, Sheep, Goats and Llamas.  Our county runs a non-traditional livestock show and all of the participants take their animals home.  There is no animal auction at our county fair, which really works for our program.  As we say at Green Chimneys " We don't eat our therapists".  Our staff and students make a commitment to the animals at the farm for life.

There were many grand champion, reserve grand champion and excellent ribbons earned, along with trophies for cattle, pig, llama, herdsman and the 4-H spirit award.  All club members are required to know about their animal ( name, age, breed, body parts, uses etc. ) and also know how to lead them in the show ring.  There are many people watching and the kids answer questions on a microphone.  Each year I am amazed at how the students handle this.  They are proud, knowledgeable, and truly good sports.  They are incredible!

Our fantastic group on interns ( Nicki, Joslyn, and Sharon ) will be leaving over the next week or two.  It is always hard to say goodbye and it's harder because the summer internship is only 3 months long.  They each worked hard all summer with the children and animals.  We were a great team and I will miss them.

 

Tags: Farm Animals | Upper Barn | Maureen Doherty

Carpooling at GC:

Ute Patrick, a Green Chimneys occupational therapist and a member of G.E.T. Green, has recently offered her services as "carpool coordinator" -- matching interested staff members with those who live nearby.  To find a carpool match, staff members can send an email to gc.carpoolmatch listing their typical commuting hours and the number of days per week that they would like to carpool.

Incentives:

As if saving money on gas and slowing global climate change isn't enough, executive director, Joe Whalen, has offered to award one carpooler every 3 months a $25 gift certificate to a local Brewster restaurant.  To qualify for the certificate a staff member must have carpooled at least 10 times over the 12 week period and have submitted a brief statement to Ute describing a favorite carpooling experience. A name will be drawn from those who meet the criteria each quarter.

Tags: G.E.T. Green | Alice Sipple

We're getting really organized in the Dining Hall this year!  We've begun hauling our food waste and paper products to a local compost facility -- Garick in New Milford, CT-- where it is turned into compost then sold to farms and gardens.  This has greatly reduced the amount of garbage we are sending to land fills.  This year has been dedicated to teaching staff and students to separate food waste, plastics and metals from garbage.  We have developed a color-coded system:

green = food waste
blue = co-mingles (plastics and metals)
black or grey = garbage

Students have helped to create colorful signs to label the various containers and a few staff members came up with the following recycling dittie to help everyone remember what goes where:

DINING HALL RECYCLING RHYME

Some things to know about the dining hall
Remember this, and you’ll know it all

The big blue bin is where to stick
Stuff made of metal and… plastic

All paper, food and drink cartons
Go in the round green food waste bins

While you are busy being green
Rubber gloves keep you healthy and clean

One more thing about this plan
Everything else in the garbage can

Tags: G.E.T. Green | Alice Sipple

G.E.T. = Green Earth Team
Green symbolizes earth, nature, and life. At Green Chimneys we are setting green goals to become earth conscious, energy smart, and healthy.

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COMMITTEE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND GOALS

G.E.T. Green has accomplished a lot since its founding one year ago. In addition to reinstating and enhancing recycling programs already in place and using green cleaning products, members of the committee have done the following and more...

1. Instated a monthly Green Award to be given to the student or class who has demonstrated exceptional environmental awareness.
2. Reduced the annual cost of Green Chimneys’ cardboard hauling/recycling from $15,000 to $7,500
3. Placed “green tips” in the daily announcements and monthly bulletin
4. Worked with speech students to decorate more than 30 boxes that were distributed to each classroom to be used for paper recycling
5. Established liaisons with Putnam County’s Environmental Health Educator, Mary Rice, who attends our monthly meetings
6. Gave workshops in found object sculpture to students and adults at the Fall Harvest Festival and in Ms. Starzyk’s classrooms.
7. Co-published the first GC Green Student Newsletter (title still to be determined)
8. Supported the Positive Five Club's collection of bottles and cans in green boxes with big green bows and a saying about the project to encourage people to put their deposit cans and bottles in them. The Club continues to donate the deposit money to Green Chimneys.
9. Implemented a food composting and dining hall recycling program by educating staff and students on how to separate out their food waste and recyclables.
10. Established a blog on the Green Chimneys website.
11. Launched the first institutional composting workshop at Clearpool for farms, institutions and municipalities.
12. Created large directional signs with maps and schedules that were displayed throughout campus on Birds of Prey Day 09.  These signs replaced the 5,000 programs that have been printed out and distributed in years past.
13. Implemented a carpooling program by establishing an email address and contact person who matches interested carpoolers with those who live nearby.
14. Purchased green aluminum water bottles with the GC logo which have been sold at public events where free water bottle fill-ups are made available.

Future Goals for G.E.T. Green: Creating a student group that will go to local businesses and audit the energy footprint of each business, increasing signage in all buildings to educate staff, youth and children on the how-to’s and the why’s of natural resource preservation, assisting with LEED silver rating for the new dorms and making our agricultural practices more sustainable. Last but not least, we hope to use less paper as an organization by: Encouraging the use of attachments to email Encouraging staff to save used paper whenever feasible for draft copies of material Purchasing recycled paper and placing in default trays of all copiers

Tags: G.E.T. Green | Alice Sipple

 

The media often contacts us at Green Chimneys about all sorts of animal related issues. Today a reporter asked us about the impacts of people feeding wild waterfowl.

Many people enjoy feeding wild ducks and geese - this can be an interesting opportunity to interact with wildlife. But there are some concerns and potential negative impacts to the animals, to people and to the environment.

 

- Wild waterfowl is adapted to finding food in nature- they are not, and should not, be dependant on people. Feeding them changes their natural behavior and makes them more dependant on humans. (Domestic ducks and geese on the other hand depend on people, so these birds do need regular feeding, unfortunatley some people release domestic ducks and geese onto park lakes and rivers, thinking they can have a good life there. Sadly especially in winter these birds often become proverbial "sitting ducks" as they can't fly, get stuck in ice, get caught by predators and often starve.)

 

- Some fowl, especially geese, can be come a nuisance and even aggressive toward people, once they loose their fear

 

- When wild waterfowl get fed by humans, they tend to loose their fear of people. During the hunting season, that makes them more likely to be less weary of hunters.

 

- When regular feeding takes place in a lake or pond - large numbers of wild waterfowl congregate in that area, concentrating the risk of disease transmission.

 

- Water quality can be impacted when larger concentrations of birds are present - potentially causing health risks to other animal species or people

 

 

- Often people who feed wild fowl feed unhealthy food. White bread, popcorn, French fires and many other kinds of human food are not good for waterfowl and can even cause health problems.

 

- Many waterfowl species are migratory by nature - when they get fed heavily by people into the fall, they tend to stop migrating, radically changing their life cycle.

 

- Encouraging wild water fowl to frequent parks, golf courses and other public spaces, encourages unsanitary conditions, as more birds stay around longer and soil the area

 

We encourage the children at Green Chimneys to respect wildlife and to understand that one of the things that make them "wild" is their independance of people. Observing wild ducks and geese can be interesting and wonderful - but in general, people should not feed these wild birds.

 

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

In terms of the human/animal bond, an exciting trend in the workplace is to accommodate employees who want to bring their personal dogs to work.

Increasingly computer companies, schools, nursing homes and smaller retail outlets allow staff to bring their dogs to work. Last week I bought a new washer and drier for my home and there were four dogs of various sizes under desks and out on the sales floor. Evidence of a trend?

At the Green Chimneys farm dogs always have held a special place in our work with children. One of our most popular programs involves the East Coast Assistance Dog (ECAD) training program where our students help to train service dogs during the puppies first year of life. These dogs eventually will be placed as service animals with individuals who have mobility issues. The ECAD dogs are owned by the ECAD organization and are brought to our campus by their trainers four times a week. When these dogs are on campus, all staff must be very aware of their needs and we are careful to not in any way interfere with their training process. This was one of the considerations when we explored the development of a policy to allow staff to bring their personal dogs to work.

So today we have another way that dogs can come to Green Chimneys. In accordance with our agency’s commitment to fostering the well being of people through the integration of animals into campus life and the therapeutic setting Green Chimneys supports our 500 staff to bring safe dogs into our therapeutic milieu. Various social workers, human resource staff, child care, school and farm staff now have been granted permission to bring their beloved pets to work.

However, we have developed a comprehensive process to make sure that the staff dogs that come to campus are behaviorally suited to the setting and do not cause any negative impact. Also, staff who do bring dogs to work, soon realize the major responsibility they are accepting in terms of supervising the dog, logistics and also a certain element of inconvenience. It sounds cool to bring your dog to work, until you realize that after work you have to drive right back home, since you can’t take your dog out to a restaurant for dinner, leave her in a hot car on a summer day while you run errands or go to a meeting at another organization that will not let you bring in the dog.

So what do we expect from staff?

Under the following conditions, staff may bring personal dogs to work. Approved adult dogs and puppies owned by staff may accompany staff to campus during their working shift – the dog/puppy* must leave campus, when the staff goes home.

Visiting dogs in classrooms, offices, or living units must demonstrate appropriate and safe behavior with people, animals and the environment at all times. Dogs must be under control and must be compatible with the area that they are to visit. The presence of the dog must enhance the campus environment and must not negatively impact it in any way. Visiting dogs have to be reliable and safe around children of all ages, dogs, horses, farm animals (very important here where we have 200 other animals of all species), cats and wildlife.

With the exception of ECAD dogs - all personally owner campus dogs must be spayed or neutered at the age deemed appropriate by a veterinarian.

Individual department directors have the right to decline or end the presence of any dog on campus at any time if the dog in any way interferes or detracts from the department or campus operations.

1. Any dog visiting on campus must not in any way interfere with the training of the ECAD dogs. ECAD dogs are not to be distracted by other dogs on campus.

2. Staff (who desire to bring a personal dog to campus) must follow all agency mandates as stated below.

· Prior to coming to campus, at the staff member’s expense, the adult dog must be evaluated for basic aptitude by a certified dog training professional. The AKC Canine Good Citizen test is used as a benchmark. This evaluation ensures that the dog has the capacity to interact safely in the campus environment. This evaluation must be documented in writing by the evaluator and must consider the dog’s proximity to children and a wide range of animals while on campus. (If a well suited dog fails one or the other of the required CGC elements, but the evaluator feels this would not in any way jeopardize the dog coming to campus safely, this will be taken into consideration by the committee and the dog may still be eligible for approval.)

· Dogs on campus can be either Delta Society certified or certified with a similar agency approved program, or currently in training for such certification. With approval from the campus committee, dogs who have had a documented behavior evaluation may be brought on campus with the understanding that they are “in training” for possible therapy dog certification. If during this time the dog shows any unsafe or negative behaviors, it must be immediately removed from the campus.

· The staff member must at all times provide proper care, handling and supervision of the dog while it is on campus. Staff is financially and legally responsible for any damages the dog may cause.

3. Step One: Any staff wishing to bring his/her dog on grounds must complete a form, submitted to the Department Director, defining the therapeutic purpose of bringing the dog to campus and requesting initial approval. The form must include specifics on how the dog will be cared for while on campus; i.e. removal and disposal of dog waste, food, supervision, leash control, etc. Only once the Department Director has reviewed and approved this form and discussed the idea of bringing the dog into the department may the staff member proceed with the rest of the application.

4. Step Two: Final approval or denial of each request is the responsibility of the Animals in the Therapeutic Milieu Committee. Decision is based on:

a. Review of the dog’s documented temperament evaluationb. A possible meeting with the dogc. Approval by the department directord. Anticipated impact on the campus, staff, visitors, and the environment

e. Completion of all paperwork.

5. Staff is required to submit dog’s updated vaccination records and licensing to the Farm office for filing. The Farm Secretary will maintain this file. It is staff’s responsibility to keep the dog’s vaccination and license status current and to submit renewals to the Farm secretary. Failure to supply required documentation will result in forfeiture of the privilege to bring the dog onto Green Chimneys property.

6. All dogs must be on a leash and within an approved area.

7. After a two (2) month trial period, the Committee will assess the status of the dog, and the impact on the program.

8. If the presence of the dog in an office or work area will have a negative impact on co-workers, example: allergies, anxiety, etc., the dog may have to be removed despite all documentations and approvals.

9. Staff members are personally responsible and liable for the behavior and actions of their dog while on campus.

10. Cost of medical care, treatment, and general maintenance of the dog is the responsibility of the staff member.

11. Staff who bring dogs onto campus are required to submit quarterly reports to the Animals in the Therapeutic Milieu Committee on how the dog has contributed positively to the campus milieu during that time.

*Puppy Policy:

With the specific approval of the department director, Animals in the Therapeutic Milieu Committee and ECAD, privately owned puppies (12 weeks and older with vaccinations) being trained and socialized for therapeutic work may be introduced and brought into the milieu.

Special conditions must be met in terms of the area where the puppy is to be kept during the work day. The puppy must demonstrate appropriate social behavior, excellent health and must not in any way disrupt or negatively interfere with other employees of the campus. Special animal welfare and vaccination concerns apply to puppies and must be met by the owner. Control/supervision of the puppy, owner responsibility and paper work/documentation are the same as with adult dogs (see policy). By the time the puppy has reached maturity, it must fit into the campus unobtrusively and add to the setting in a positive fashion. The committee will monitor the progress puppies are making during their first year on campus, and will be in communication with owners in the event that additional training or behavior modification for the dog may be required.

Puppy owners must agree to crate train their dogs and have a crate in the area where they plan to keep the dog

These procedures may seem very heavy on rules, but we have found that they ensure a positive inclusion of dogs in our residential treatment setting. We continue to refine the procedure and there is a staff committee that monitors all dogs who come to campus with their stewards.

We recommend that any business or workplace that is considering allowing staff to bring in personal dogs, have a policy in place that addresses safety of workers, the public, clients, the facility and also safety for the dogs themselves.

If you have any questions about how to go about this, do not hesitate to email me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

As I wrote in a previous blog, animal welfare is at the core of the Green Chimneys mission and great lengths are taken so each animal receives the utmost nutrition, housing and veterinary care. Animals are not objects to be used, but individual partners to interact with in a respectful manner. Behavioral enrichment is offered when needed and the staff is always vigilant that the animal benefit as much from their interactions with people as the children do. But what is behavioral enrichment? According to Hilda Tresz, a keeper at the Phoenix Zoo: ”Behavioral enrichment serves to promote the psychological well-being of captive animals by enriching their environment. Behavioral Enrichment provides an appropriate environment that promotes natural activities. The stimulation breaks down to several different levels – like Exhibit, Dietary or Social Enhancement and can be used in many forms.” Yesterday I met with our current group of interns and we talked about behavioral enrichment and the various species of animals we keep here – such as our horses, sheep, pigs, goat and even the dogs who work on campus. Enriching the lives of domestic animals is different than when designing activities for wildlife or exotic species. Primates, elephants, dolphins and other intelligent exotic mammals tend to get bored in a sterile captive setting. So when we do have them in captivity, we must be sure to keep their intelligence stimulated by aloowing them to act out the behaviors they might do in the wild. But domestic animals, bred to live with people, need enrichment too. Sadly many farm animals do not get that. In modern farms, pigs and chickens and other farm animals often are overcrowded in indoor settings with little opportunity to follow their natural instincts. Many modern chickens kept in large industrial farms can’t scratch in the soil, take sand baths or roost high at night the way they like to. Pigs don’t have access to green fields, mud wallows or rich soil to root in. Well needless to say, at Green Chimneys all of our farm animals have the opportunity to be real chickens, pigs and cows, living out their natural behaviors in the pastures, fields, coops and stalls. Even the pets that share our homes often need behavioral enrichment. So many pet dogs today are called upon to do nothing. They linger all day in their families house or apartment- rarely get exercise and have very little mental stimulation, other than their people coming home at the end of the day, tired and in need of rest. This is one reason why so many pet dogs show behavior problems like barking too much, digging up yards, destroying their owner’s homes or by refusing to be housetrained. Activities like obedience training, fly ball, lure coursing with dogs are exciting antidotes to this; they enrich the lives of both the dogs and their people. Most dog breeds were developed to DO something - they are not happy to only sit around. Even lap dogs like a little variety. Healthy and happy dogs have rich lives filled with activities. That brings us to the ultimate enrichment opportunity for domestic animals - the human animal relationship. At Green Chimneys our farm animals, horses, dogs and cats have rich lives that provide lots of activity, change and variety for both. No day is the same as the next, and in the course of working with the children and animals, both get engaged and become involved. The animals get walked, groomed, fed, washed; the horses are ridden and trained, even the llamas get trained to master simple behaviors that they demonstrate on command. With each season the activities change and animals live in appropriate family groups with others of their kind. We have special event days when thousands of people come to campus. They can’t wait to see the animals and the animals in turn examine the strange visitors with curiosity and interest. Our students put on campus parades with their animal friends - and they spend time with the animals in the snow, in rain and when the weather is nice. Almost every animal is the “favorite” of someone and gets special attention. There is very little time for either the animals or the kids to ever get bored. Therein lies a secret - regular and varied activity is the best kind of behavioral enrichment for animals (and kids) – and when caring people come together with farm animals and pets as they do here – the lives of both become so much richer.

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman

At our recent humane education conference it became clear once again, how different people think differently about the care and treatment of animals and what role animals play in the lives of human beings. All participants however were passionate about the quality of life each animal that is kept by people receives.

 

What about the 200 farm animals, wild birds, horses and other animals that share our lives here on campus? How do we make sure they have wonderful lives?

 

Animal welfare is at the core of the Green Chimneys mission and great lengths are taken so each animal receives the utmost nutrition, housing and veterinary care. Animals are not objects to be used, but individual partners to interact with in a respectful manner. Behavioral enrichment is offered when needed and the staff is always vigilant that the animal benefit as much from their interactions with people as the children do.

 

Experience has shown that the best way to prevent stress in therapy animals at the farm is to not ask too much of each animal in the first place. Prevention of stress is the key. Lots of breaks, rest periods, play time with other animals and frequent evaluation of the animals helps the staff and interns to make sure every goat or pig continues to flourish in the program.

 

While our students, staff and volunteers are passionate animal lovers, and all of us naturally do our best by the animals we keep here, we also have outside groups that help us to maintain a high standard of animal care. Our four veterinary consultants are at the frontline of supporting us and provide excellent ongoing animal care, advice and encouragement.

 

The United States Department of Agriculture provides us with a C license to exhibit animals, and inspects our premises and animal care periodically in unannounced visits. The Federal government and state issues us licenses to maintain endangered species in our wildlife rehabilitation center and to rehabilitate wild raptors. The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) sets safety standards and equine care protocols for our herd of horses, and they too send us periodic on site accreditation visitors to ensure that we comply with all of their requirements.

 

Being close friends with animal care and control organizations in our area and through a longstanding relationship with the ASPCA, we regularly get advice on the latest animal care trends from our professional colleagues in animal welfare. They would not bring us impounded animals that had been through abuse or neglect if we did not live up to a high standard of animal care. Being open on weekends to the general public and receiving hundreds of visits from professional animal people (from zoos, wildlife centers, universities, kennels and equine facilities) also continually motivates us to review and upgrade how we tend to the needs of our four footed, feathered and scaled residents.

 

We aim to offer every eagle, bunny; goat or donkey the kind of life that is suitable for their species. We have policies and procedures that help to keep us consistent. In many ways the children are the strongest advocates for this. They learn about their animal companions, they search the internet for the latest news and care trends for their favorite type of animal. Often it is they who remind us of the little things we can do to help make an animal’s life rich. The grown-up professionals think of the “big stuff”, like impeccable sanitation on the farm, above standard animal health care and good record keeping. But it is the children who think of the finer points, such as offering peanut butter on apple slices to the pigs or to groom a favorite horse a little longer just because the mare likes it.

 

We do not claim to be perfect; we always aim to learn more about our animal partners and to do better – but anyone who visits Green Chimneys, can see that our 200 animals are respected, considered and well loved.

Tags: Human Animal Bond | Animal Assisted Therapy | Michael Kaufman