WHERE: Animal Care and Control
2741 South Western Avenue
Sponsored by
City of Chicago Animal Care and Control
&
SPEAK (Supporting and Promoting
Ethics for the Animal Kingdom)
10:00am - Opening Remarks - Animal Care and Control
10:15am - Introduction - SPEAK
10:25am - Enriching the Human Cat Bond
Joan Levergood - Tree House Animal Foundation
A basic discussion of how the needs and emotions of cats parallel needs and emotions in humans. Participants will learn how human caretakers can improve their cat’s lives through enriching their environment as well as how play and positive rewards can influence instinctive feline behaviors.
Joan has been involved in many aspects of Tree House Animal Foundation for over a decade. For many years, she managed the Tree House Behavioral Hotline, which offers counseling and assistance in all areas of feline care and behavior.
10:50am - Animals in the Wild: Is it All Instinct?
Joe Gaziano, PhD - SPEAK
Elephants who have compassion, crows who trick hunters, penguins who show love. Find out how animals in the wild share many of the same emotions and mental abilities humans do.
Joe has been an officer of the board and educator with SPEAK for 10 years. He teaches political science at Lewis University in Romeoville.
11:15am - Who Says they’re Birdbrains and Dumb Bunnies? Beyond Cats and Dogs - Appreciating Other Companion Species
Jacquie Lewis - SPEAK
This presentation will focus on the mental and emotional lives of rabbits and the recent research on the intelligence of birds. A video clip will demonstrate the abilities of one very unusual bird.
Jacquie is the president of SPEAK (Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom), a humane education organization. She is also a PhD candidate in psychology and has conducted the first study on the life experiences and nighttime dreams of animal advocates.
11:35am - Break
12:05pm - I Am a Farm Animal
Kimberly Kurrus
Humans and farmed animals are more alike than not. Domesticated for thousands of years, they have become like us as we have become like them.
Kimberly has have been involved with animals for over 45 years. She has been an early childhood teacher for 20 years. She is married and has two children who regard the animals they live with as 'family.' She has recently given talks on how animals teach us about ourselves.
12:30pm - Wild Animals in Captivity -- A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Jail
Bob Nixon, PhD
The talk will focus on the fact that animals have much the same emotions and thinking ability as other species such as Homo-sapiens and it doesn't matter if they are family members or wild animals in captivity.
Bob is an animal advocate whose activities range from lobbying and educating animal people on political action to rescues and transporting.
12:55 - The Emotional Lives of Dogs
Erin Kelly
Discover what humans have learned about the emotions of dogs and how that knowledge enriches our lives.
Erin is the Community Outreach Specialist Anti-Cruelty Society. She currently teaches humane education programs to students k-12 and works with police to combat dog-fighting in Chicago.
1:15pm - Closing Remarks - SPEAK & Animal Care and Control
