New show covers animal care

link Sheryl Borden

Creative Living

Information on teaching children about caring for animals, making a regal rainbow ruffle cake, and using a curved tool to make a table runner will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday. All times are Mountain.

Matthew Festa is with Guardians of Rescue in Smithtown, New York, and he believes all children should be taught humane education and it’s never too early to start. This is a process of teaching respect and compassion for animals, how to care for animals, how to recognize signs of abuse and neglect and how to report it in the proper manner.

Nancy Siler will demonstrate making a regal rainbow ruffle cake. Siler represents Wilton Brands. It “almost” looks too good to eat — but not quite. She is from Woodridge, Illinois.

Cheryl Phillips will demonstrate how to use the Simple Curves tool and create curved fabric pieces which look like waves when she sews them together as a table runner. She’ll talk about selection of different fabrics to create an entirely different look each time. Her company is Phillips Fiber Art in Delta, Colorado.

Information on making handbags and accessories with style, training for a triathlon and making a candy clock will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” noon Tuesday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Author and designer, Stephanie Kimura will show how to make handbags and accessories with style. Making handbags is a popular craft right now, and Kimura has written the book on the topic. Her company is Kimura Patterns in Jensen Beach, Florida.

Whitney Hobson is from Roswell and she will tell about triathlon training, explain how she got inspired to compete, go over the nutrition regime, and explain what all is involved for the novice competitor.

Nancy Siler is going to demonstrate making a candy clock, which could be used for a garden party, as a luncheon centerpiece, for gift giving or for an adult’s birthday. This clock is made with candy melts, which come in a variety of colors, and are easy to work with.

Humane Education

• All children should be taught humane education. It is never too early or too late to begin teaching children about humane education.

• Humane education is the process of teaching children to have respect and compassion for animals. Through humane education, children learn the problem and compassionate way to care for animals, help them when in need, and to identify and report animal cruelty when they see it.

• Guardians of Rescue offer a humane education program, called “The Junior Guardians.” The program is offered to groups of kids in schools, organizations, scouting programs, etc. They are open as to where they offer the humane education program.

• The mission of the humane education program is to help them learn the ropes of animal rescue, learn how to recognize the signs of animal abuse and neglect, and how to report it in the proper manner.

• Students in the humane education program also learn how to fight animal abuse and defend animals, as well as about specific issues, such as dog fighting. Even younger children, such as preschoolers, can begin learning humane education principles. These children can learn such things as the proper way to touch pets, what they shouldn’t do, and how to handle animals they may come across.

• When students engage in a humane education program they are empowered to learn more about having compassion for animals and how to care for them. They, in turn, use that information to help animals everywhere.

• Humane education is not a formal program taught in the curriculum of most schools, yet it is such an important issue because it impacts animals everywhere. For this reason, it is necessary to bring humane education programs in, so that children get this information and can learn the principles, which may last them a lifetime.

Based in New York, Guardians of Rescue is an organization whose mission is to protect the well being of all animals. They provide aid to animals in distress, including facilitating foster programs, rehabilitation, assisting other rescue groups and providing support to families, both military and not, who need assistance due to economic factors. To learn more about Guardians of Rescue, visit their website.

“Creative Living” is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations in the United States, Canada, Guam and Puerto Rico and is distributed by Westlink of Albuquerque.