College Heights Secondary School (CHSS) students are building 30 doghouses over the next few weeks.
The houses will then be shipped to northern Ontario Aboriginal communities in a partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Habitat for Humanity and the Upper Grand District School Board.
The specialist high skills major (SHSM) students in Grades 11 and 12 have received free supplies from IFAW donation funding and have set up an assembly line to build the doghouses as part of their final exam.
Charles Benyair, SHSM/technological education leader, said, “We’re very excited about this project as it will benefit our students and the communities involved immediately.”
As one of the world’s largest animal welfare organizations, the IFAW provides education, assistance with dog bylaws, annual vet clinics and, when necessary, re-homing for First Nation communities that have many large, resourceful and free-ranging dogs.
“These dogs are not strays,” said Jan Hannah, the IFAW lead for the Northern Dogs Project.
“They do live outside and doghouses are just one way we can help these dogs cope with the long, hard winter.”
Benyair added, “Building the doghouses will be a way for the students to see the connection to the north, Aboriginal people and the animals, too.
“Not only is this part of their final SHSM exam, but it will give students a sense of pride knowing their work is being used due to their generosity.”
