Kathie Jenni

Kathie Jenni is Professor of Philosophy and Director of Human-Animal Studies at the University of Redlands. Her engaged work with students focuses on working with and for animals. She teaches an intense May term class titled “Animal Ethics and Service.”

1. Why did you choose to ask students to do civic engagement projects?

I set up a course with animal-related service because of a high demand among our students for opportunities to work with and for animals. I, myself, had long wanted to become more directly involved in hands-on work for animals; and combining it with teaching was a natural.

2. Which of your courses get students out of the classroom?

My course “Animal Ethics & Service” is a May Term seminar that combines study of animal ethics with regular volunteer work at local animal shelters and rescues for dogs, cats, horses, wolves, and other wild animals. I’ve found that in other courses, such as “Animal Ethics and Policy,” when I offer voluntary service opportunities to enrich the academic course, some students jump at the chance. This happened this spring, when about seven students of twenty did significant volunteer work and fund-raising for a local cat rescue.

3. What project(s) do your students do?

My students do many varieties of work at the shelters and rescues we visit, from the “grunt work” of hosing down and sanitizing dog kennels, to cleaning catteries, to socializing and exercising dogs and cats, to grooming horses, to showing animals to potential adoptees.

4. Give an example of a successful project.

One especially successful project was helping a regional Farm Sanctuary by mucking out their large horse pastures and sweeping out barns to put in new hay: the group completed the work in half the time the staff had expected, so that we got an especially long and detailed tour of the rescued animals there. Another stand-out achievement was when a handful of motivated students raised $2500 for a financially-strapped cat rescue by asking for donations from students’ unused meal cards at the end of the academic year.

5. What do you think students gain from doing this civic engagement?

What students gain from this direct engagement with animals and those who care for them is multi-dimensional and irreplaceable. Primarily, they gain direct knowledge of how current practices affect the lives of animals and a repertoire of ways in which they can help them.

As I’ve written elsewhere, in animal ethics and other social and moral arenas, forming personal relationships (in this case, with nonhuman animals) and experiencing the undisputed facts themselves (about animal killing in shelters, about the mental and emotional capacities of animals) often brings about personal transformations, changes in worldview, and commitments to long-term activism. Students comment in their final papers and course evaluations – and many have written to me years later – that the course is life-changing. Some change their diets to avoid complicity in the suffering and death of animals in factory farms. They say their eyes have been opened to the extent of abuse and neglect of animals involved in common practices. They speak of spreading this awareness to their family and friends; and they come away confident that they can make a difference in the world.

Many report that the course has reinforced and given direction to a lifelong desire to help animals. Some use the experience as a springboard to internships at rescues and sanctuaries we have visited, and others have obtained important positions in animal rescue and care.

6. What does the civic engagement project offer to wider communities?

The engagement of my students provides, long after the course ends, a source of reliable, dedicated, and trustworthy volunteers and potential employees to local animal rescues. Students have fostered kittens for a cat rescue, obtained jobs as medical assistants, achieved important positions (e.g., overseeing euthanasia practices in Western Virginia), and found jobs that were a perfect fit between them and an organization (e.g., an animal caretaker position in DogTown at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary). Others enter Vet School and will (I am certain) become compassionate and skilled veterinarians.

7. If someone wanted to do these projects at their own institution, what steps or resources would you recommend?

I would suggest starting by talking with one’s Dean and/or Community Service Learning Director (if there is one) to explore the possibilities. I would recommend charging a course fee to cover the cost of transportation (van rental, for instance) to and from local rescues (much as art classes often involve a course fee). I would compile, very early in the course or even before it begins, a comprehensive list of student preferences about where they would like to volunteer, their schedules of classes and work, and their transportation options so that small groups of students could go together (perhaps by carpool) to and from shelters and sanctuaries. I’d be happy to serve as a resource to anyone wanting to incorporate animal experiences and service into their courses. You can contact me at Kathie_jenni@redlands.edu.

8. What do you like about teaching this way?

I find teaching this way (a) exhausting and (b) enormously gratifying. I love the time spent with students as we work together, getting to know them as individuals and witnessing how deep is their love and commitment to animals. I love being able to comfort and give some happiness to animals, if only for a few hours a week. I love reports from students about spreading ideas, information, experiences, and thoughts about animal ethics with their family members and friends. I am continually amazed by how service to animals deepens and gives direction to the dedication of students who want to work for animals throughout their lives. It gives me joy to think of them going out into the world as “soldiers” for good.

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