‘Furry Finals Fix’ to promote friendly, relaxed environment before finals

As part of its effort to “give animal advocacy a sexy new makeover,” Revitalizing Animal Well-being will host its latest “Furry Finals Fix” at 1 p.m. Sunday at Briscoe Quad.\nThe event, which is free and open to the public, encourages students, faculty and community residents to join RAWfficers to relax and play with animals.\n“We do it every (fall and spring) semester,” said Courtney Wennerstrom, co-founder and co-president of RAW. “Nobody can resist puppies.”\nWennerstrom expects a few hundred human participants.\nRAW’s community outreach coordinator Kara Kendall said she originally came up with the idea of a “Furry Final’s Fix” when she was an undergraduate at St. Olaf’s in Minnesota.\n“It’s something I wanted to revive here for RAW,” Kendall said.\nThe event has picked up steam each time they have done it, she said.\n“We’ve kind of accumulated animals over the past semesters,” Kendall said. “People have done it in the past, and they’ve enjoyed it, and their pets have enjoyed it.”\nWhile dogs are expected to be most prevalent, people are encouraged to bring their friendly, furry pets to the event.\n“We may have rats; we may have bunnies,” Wennerstrom said. “We would really love more cats in our ‘Furry Finals Fix,’ but it can be stressful for them.” \nAnd stress is one thing RAW hopes to reduce at this event.\n“Animals are incredible therapy,” Wennerstrom said, adding that many students miss animals they left at home when they came to IU. “It’s just a great opportunity for them to come and de-stress.”\nThe RAWfficers pointed out that students can use that stress relief especially just before finals hit.\n“Animals have been shown to lower blood pressure and other signs of stress,” Kendall said. “It’s just a really great opportunity to take a break from studying and relax and just to spend time with animals.”\nRAW will also receive some support from the Humane Society of the United States.\n“We’re basically just providing materials for the students to pass out,” said Anne Sterling, the Indiana state director for the HSUS.\nThe information offered at Furry Finals Fix will focus on puppy mills, in which dogs are forced to live in small cages and generally unsanitary conditions. The HSUS estimates that more than 90 percent of pet store puppies come from the mills.\n“People are always surprised to hear that there are puppy mills in Indiana,” Sterling said. “It’s just pretty incredible that this is happening right here in our state.”\nBeyond advocacy and awareness, RAW encourages people to simply spend more time with animals whenever possible.\n“I think it makes us more well rounded and more aware of non-human creatures we share the world with,” Kendall said.\nKendall said she believes playing with animals puts people in a different place mentally because humans interact with other people differently than they do with animals. \n“I just think they put things into perspective,” Wennerstrom said. “How can you be stressed out when you see puppies playing?”