Animal Samaritans' Free Critter Camps Teach Local Kids Kindness, One Paw at a Time

Kids across the Coachella Valley are spending their summer up close with animals, and learning a lot more than just how to pet them. Animal Samaritans' free Critter Camp is back at the Desert Hot Springs Recreation Center, giving children hands-on time with animals while teaching them kindness, responsibility, and respect.

The camp is run through Animal Samaritans' Humane Education program, and the educators behind it say the goal goes far beyond a fun afternoon with furry friends. "It is important to teach children kindness, compassion, and pet responsibility so they can be good citizens," said Diana Martinez, an Animal Samaritans Humane Educator. She added that those early lessons can ripple outward, saying the hope is that kids carry them into adulthood "so we're going to see less animal abuse, less animal abandonment, and just kinder people in general."

Fellow educator Lindsey Hicktok said the lessons sometimes plant bigger seeds. "We're hoping with a lot of our lessons will inspire these kids and students to want to be veterinarians and help out their community in the future," she said. Hicktok said staff also want campers to walk away knowing the basics of animal care, including how to spay and neuter, vaccinate, and microchip a pet, along with what shelters do and how to support them.

The camp also leans on core values like respect, kindness, and honesty, with educators hoping kids apply those lessons not just to animals at home, but to how they treat their classmates too.

Critter Camp is just one piece of Animal Samaritans' broader education effort. The organization also visits schools throughout the Coachella Valley year round, and says its Humane Education Department has reached more than 270,000 local children since the program began.

Families interested in signing kids up can find more information at animalsamaritans.org