KLAWS donates collars, gifts to Castaic Animal Care Center

Kids read to the animals at Castaic Animal Care Center on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Kids Loving Animals Within Shelters (KLAWS), a club at Castaic Middle School, sought to create an imaginary chain of love by reading letters of hope and donating to the animals at the shelter. Nikolas Samuels/The Signal
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To get the staff, volunteers and animals at the Castaic Animal Care Center into the holiday spirit, Castaic Middle School’s Kids Loving Animals Within Shelters (KLAWS) club donated holiday toys, collars and treats to the shelter’s grounds Thursday.

The “Letters for Shelters” event brought together students of all ages who wrote heartfelt letters of love to the animals of the animal care center.

Casey Gagnon reads a letter of hope to a dog at Castaic Animal Care Center on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Between 30 and 40 kids with Kids Loving Animals Within Shelters (KLAWS), a club at Castaic Middle School, sought to create an imaginary chain of love by reading and donating to the animals at the shelter. Nikolas Samuels/The Signal

These letters were also attached to new collars that were donated to the KLAWS Club from Oki Doggy Pet Supplies Company, a dog-gear company recognized for its charity to the animal rescue community.

Karen Gagnon began the KLAWS Club with former Castaic Middle School teacher Christine Racina.  The students adopted the Castaic Animal Care Center as the club’s primary mission to support the needs of the shelter and to educate the students of the responsibilities of owning an animal.

“My goal for the club was to build a bridge between the school, the community and the shelter,” Gagnon told The Signal last year. “Being a teacher and being a rescuer are my two passions, and to bring them together is incredible.”

Education specialist and the founder of Kids Loving Animals Within Shelters (KLAWS) Club Karen Gagnon puts a dog card on top of the Christmas tree at Castaic Animal Care Center on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017.  KLAWS is a club at Castaic Middle School and between 30 and 40 kids participated in reading letters of hope to the animals at the shelter. Nikolas Samuels/The Signal

Since its inception, the club has taken off and hosted a Halloween eventphotographed the shelter’s animals to help them get adopted and welcomed celebrity trainers to its campus to educate students.

During Thursday’s event, the animal care center was gifted with a $500 check from the California Credit Union.

Animal Care Center Manager Karen Stepp tears up as she holds the letters written to the animals at Castaic Animal Shelter on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Kids Loving Animals Within Shelters (KLAWS) had the goal to create an imaginary chain of love by donating and reading to the animals. Nikolas Samuels/The Signal

Thursday’s event also included some famous faces with appearances from heARTspeak Photographer Rita Earl-Blackwell, Cinimon Clark from Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls and Parolees,” Fabiana from Oki Doggy Pet Supplies, CJ from the Rescue Strong Company, Meghan and Abe from Bubba’s Crew, and dog social media sensations  “Owen” and “Lucky Lovable Louie.”

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