Humane Education

We believe that educating younger generations is the key to ensuring better lives for animals in the future.

Expand one of the following sections to learn more about our programs.

Purr-fect Parties for a Paws-itive Cause

The Humane Society of Utah is excited to reintroduce birthday parties! This is the perfect opportunity for young animal lovers to celebrate their passion while helping shelter pets.


Availability: Tuesdays-Thursdays, 12pm-6:30pm
Weekend dates available as an add-on package*
For those turning 6-14 years old
Duration: 90 Minutes
Cost: $250
Party Attendance: 20 guests maximum (must have 1 adult per 8 kids)

What’s Included?

  • Private party room
  • Tables, table covers, chairs, trash cans
  • Set up and take down of tables, chairs, and anything set up before you arrive
  • Simple animal-themed decorations and photo props
  • HSU animal-themed invitations and thank you cards
  • 90-minute room reservation
    • 45 minutes led by staff
    • 45 minutes for party celebration
  • 15 minutes of staff-led animal interaction
    • The type of animal cannot be guaranteed

Not Included

  • Kitchen/refrigerator access
  • Utensils, cups, napkins, etc
  • A tour of the Adoption Center
  • Additional decorations are not allowed
Request to book your party
  • Birthday parties take place within the auditorium, and guests must stay in our party area even during the last half of the party. Our adoption center is often active during party times, so the entire experience will take place off the adoption floor. We invite and welcome guests to come back to HSU to visit with adoptable animals at a different time.
  • We invite guests to bring small sweet treats (cupcakes, cookies, brownies, etc), beverages, and gifts to celebrate during the last 45 minutes of your party. We do not allow guests to bring other food or decorations, and we do not have refrigeration.
  • To make the experience positive and safe for everyone, we put the responsibility of choosing an animal for visitations on HSU staff members only. While we will try our best to accommodate the birthday celebrant’s preferred animal species, we cannot make any guarantees.
  • If at any time we feel that an animal is uncomfortable or unsafe during visitation, our education staff will remove that animal from the room.
  • HSU staff reserve the right to end a party early if guests’ behavior does not follow our guidelines or endangers the well-being of an animal. By booking a birthday party at HSU, we expect that you have read and agreed to our policies.
  • Birthday parties will begin and end on time.

Plushie Adoption ($100)

Each youth partygoer gets to adopt an 8” plush dog or cat. This will come with an adoption certificate, mini party hat, a take-home box to decorate, and a collar and tag.

Weekend Pricing ($50)

Due to the high volume of traffic on Fridays and Saturdays, we can only accommodate a limited amount of weekend parties per month at this time.


Friday: 2pm-6pm
Saturday: 12pm-2pm

Name A Shelter Pet ($15)

The birthday kid gets to pick a name* for an incoming animal. An email will be sent with a picture of the animal!

*Name limitations may apply

Click here to view more information about our youth camps!

Kind Kids is a fun on-site program for youth seeking opportunities to help animals in their community. Perfect for young animal lovers under HSU’s volunteer age, Kind Kids will learn more about our center, tour adoptable animals, and engage in a project that benefits our pets.

Participants may create a variety of enrichment toys or create adoption promotion materials—not to mention get some hands-on animal socialization time!

This event is not walk-in and requires pre-registration to attend

Details

For ages 8-11 years old
The program fee is $25 per session
Participants must wear clothes that can get messy and closed-toe shoes
Show respect to all animals (including humans too!)

Upcoming Dates

Coming soon!

No Dates Available

This event is subject to cancellation due to insufficient registration

Join us on-site for our reading to cats program! Whether your child needs to fulfill reading hours or is searching for a unique way to engage with our pets under the volunteer age (12 years), our Kitty Book Club is the purrfect opportunity.

  • This program is open to kids in 1st-6th grade
  • To ensure safe interactions, we require an adult 18 or older to accompany the youth reader during their time with the animals.
    • We are not able to accommodate groups.
  • Once you have signed up by filling out the waiver below, you do not need to schedule a time to visit; you can walk in during any of these days:
    • Sunday-Thursday, 11 am – 7 pm
  • You are welcome to bring your own book or pick one from our small library!
Waiver

How It Helps

Reading stimulates the imagination, builds important neuro pathways, and helps children to expand their understanding of the world around them. But did you also know the benefits of reading to animals? Learning to read can be stressful for young children, but when you read to an animal you take away the worry of making mistakes and replace it with a judgment-free reading experience. This has proven to increase motivation to read, increase confidence in reading, and improve fluency while reading. 
This program also has many benefits for shelter pets. Studies have shown that being read to decreases stress levels, can calm restless animals, and helps shy animals gain confidence when meeting new people. All of the perks directly improve an animal’s chance of being quickly adopted and decreases the time they spend in the shelter.  

About

Humane Education sessions are offered for free to schools and community groups for K-12.

In-person visits are only offered to locations within a 30-mile radius of The Humane Society of Utah. All schools outside of this radius can still participate in a live virtual session.

Presentation Options

Introduction & Dog Safety

Our first session will cover topics like what an animal shelter is, proper pet care, and why shelters are important for our communities. This introductory visit often includes an education-trained canine visitor and covers dog safety.

*Having a dog visitor will depend on our availability as well as district regulations

Science Strand Connections

From the animal’s wild habitat to what it’s like having one as a pet, these presentations are sure to inspire young minds and encourage responsibility.

SEL Connections

Looking to add excitement to social and emotional learning (SEL)? We offer a range of presentations that connect our furry friends to our own emotions, empathy, and more.

Service Connections (Coming Soon!)

We are planning to offer lessons that specifically connect to community service. Each lesson will be paired with an in-class activity that benefits shelter animals.

Scheduling

To schedule a Humane Education Presentation, please follow this link, scroll down to “Send Us A Message” and select Humane Education.

Things to know:

  • Visits generally last 30 minutes
  • An animal visitor will accompany our human team
  • Scheduling takes place Monday 11am-3pm (virtual only), Tuesday-Thursday 9am-4pm, and Friday 9am-1pm
  • The school year fills up fast, so contact us with your preferred dates asap!

Whether you’re looking to become a pet owner for the first time or are looking to brush up on your pet care knowledge, the Humane Society’s Pet Care Course aims to give you a brief but comprehensive overview of pet ownership. Ready to learn? Watch the video below!

Test your new knowledge with the Pet Care Course Quiz, found here!

Twice a year the Humane Society of Utah partners with the Girl Scouts of Utah to host a Pet Badge event available to Brownies! This hour-and-a-half session will walk attendees through all the steps to successfully earn their pet badge while interacting with the animals they’re learning about.

2025 dates: April 25th and October 10th from 5-6:30 pm. Registration information can be found on the gsutah website.

While the Humane Society does not have a dedicated year-round program for achieving a pet or service-related badge, individual scout groups are welcome to schedule an on-site visit with our education team to learn about the Humane Society. More information about scheduling a tour can be found below under “Youth Tours & Service Projects”.

Our on-site, youth-based tours are an excellent way for small groups to get involved with The Humane Society of Utah and help shelter pets! These Humane Education staff-led visits include:

  • A presentation about our organization
  • Tour of our adoption center
  • Interaction with a special animal guest

Reservations are required for all tours.

Shelter Tour Details

  • Length of tour: 45 minutes
  • Cost: $5 per attendee
  • Minimum age: 6 years old
  • Group size: Tours have a 6-person minimum charge. Maximum capacity is 15 participants.
  • Availability: Tours are available Tuesday-Thursday 11am-4pm, and Friday 11am-1pm
Request A Tour

The tour fee may be waived for groups organizing a donation drive for our pets. However, group size and availability restrictions still apply. If your group is larger than 15, consider requesting an off-site visit.

Service Projects

There are many ways for groups and individuals to help The Humane Society of Utah serve animals in need. Some ideas include:

  • Host a fundraiser, like a bake sale or car wash, to benefit HSU
  • Organize a supply drive to collect the things we need most from our wish list, including items from your home that can be reused to help animals in our shelters.
  • If you’re looking for a creative and hands-on opportunity, consider making tie blankets as a donation to keep our pets comfortable during their stay.

Donated items can be brought to the Adoptions counter during regular business hours. No appointment is necessary.

Thank you for your kindness! We have created a Certificate of Donation for free download below.

Donation CertificateDownload

Any questions about the following programs can be directed to our Humane Education Team at 801-261-2919 ext. 234 or send us a message.