Furry friends cause a stir as LADS kennel collected

Students from John Willcock College LADS program spent weeks building a kennel for Geraldton Dog Rescue, and recently met a few of the furry friends their donation will benefit.

For around eight weeks the students planned, designed and built two kennels, made completely from recycled materials, with one destined for a home with GDR and the other expected to be sold.

GDR team member Melody Cartwright said the effort the boys had put into building the kennel made the donation extra special.

“It’s very humbling to see how much work the boys have put into this and we’re grateful of any support from the community,” she said.

“We’re in the process of getting our own premises and once that happens the kennel will be used there. For now it’ll go to the home of one of our carers.”

Several GDR members and three of their canine companions collected the kennel from the school last Wednesday, which LADS program teacher David Quimby said caused quite a stir throughout the school.

“Once some of the teachers found out we had the dogs coming by, I had emails asking if they were able to stay until after school for the staff to meet,” he joked.

“The boys have been looking forward to this day for quite awhile — they all have dogs at home and worked hard to be able to get to this point.”

The LADS program, an acronym for Learning Achieving Developing and Succeeding, is used to engage students at risk of disconnecting from traditional school-based learning because of poor attendance.

The brother project to John Willcock’s SHINE program for girls, LADS works to engage male students from Years 7 to 9 with a more hands-on approach to their education.

The dog kennel is part of a series of projects the group hope to build for donation, which Mr Quimby said would be further helped by the support of the community.

“The dog kennel was made possible by access to old pallets, house awning and salvaged wood and with more materials we’ll be able to continue doing projects like this,” he said.