Kayleigh West is the Humane Education Coordinator at East Bay SPCA. She became involved in Humane Education in 2021 when she joined the team as a Summer Camp Counselor. She now coordinates, creates curriculum and runs the programs for onsite and offsite students. Kayleigh sees the challenges of the constantly changing shelter population (i.e. animals who are stressed, over/under stimulated, jumpy/mouthy, etc.) and adjusts her approach when utilizing shelter animals in programs. When teaching, she focuses on the important concepts of consent, respect, empathy, and advocacy. 

She has led a program called The Bark Program for the past three years!  The Bark Program is a six-week, intensive after-school program run by East Bay SPCA in collaboration with Oakland Unity High School in East Oakland. The program teaches persistence, empathy, and respect for all living beings through a combination of dog training and humane education. 

Kayleigh has stated that one of the most rewarding aspects of her job is watching their fearful or nervous youth participants grow confidence when interacting with the animals after learning to read their body language. She hopes to see humane education efforts expanded in other avenues such as rescues, zoos, shelters, and beyond. She adopted her dog, Olive (pictured below) from the EBSPCA in 2021, and in her free time she enjoys traveling abroad.

Olive, who was adopted from EBSPCA in 2021 (right).  A group field trip to the Oakland Zoo, where we got to see examples of cooperative care using positive reinforcement (left).