About
Camp Pawprint is a series of themed day camps where campers take part in animal-related lessons, animal care lessons and interactions, and hands-on activities. Each session includes interacting with a variety of animals through classroom animal interaction, animal interactions, and visits with animal professionals such as veterinarians and dog trainers. Campers complete service projects and shelter projects for the shelter, learn from local animal experts and guest speakers through professional presentations, play games and creative games with other animal lovers, and participate in interactive and collaborative learning. Every week includes a tour of the DCHS Main Shelter and ends with a camp celebration where families are invited to the shelter so campers can show them what they have learned, and campers also learn to identify when animals need care and how to provide enrichment.
• Ages: 7–12 years old
• Schedule: Themed, week-long day camps held Monday through Friday from June through August, with some Epic Ecosystems sessions offered as 3-day mini-weeks.
• Price: Full Monday–Friday weeks cost $365 for 8:30 am–3:30 pm or $445 with aftercare until 5:00 pm; 3-day mini-weeks cost $220 for 8:30 am–3:30 pm or $265 with aftercare until 5:00 pm.
Camp Pawprint is hosted by Dane County Humane Society (DCHS), which offers Camp Pawprint during Summer Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, and as Day Camps. Summer themes include Animal Avengers, which focuses on animal “super powers” and how animals use their senses; Critter Careers, which focuses on professions that involve working with and caring for animals; Epic Ecosystems, which highlights unique biomes and how ecosystems work together; and Earth Guardians, which focuses on caring for the planet and living things through exploration of ecosystems, wildlife, waste, energy, and conservation. Campers spend a lot of time with classroom animals and sometimes meet guest animal visitors, but they do not pet adoptable dogs, cats, or critters around the shelter. Campers bring a packed lunch and their own snacks, and DCHS uses hay and peanut butter for animal enrichment and does not provide a hay- and peanut-free facility. Camp Pawprint staff is not trained to handle all emotional and behavioral conditions, and if a child has a one-on-one teacher or aide at school, an aide must be provided for them to attend camp. A limited amount of need-based financial aid is available for camp fees, and Camp Pawprint donations may be used for camp scholarships, new speakers, extra craft supplies, or other camp program needs.
Dane County Humane Society was founded in 1921, built a permanent shelter on Pennsylvania Avenue in Madison in 1965, and opened the current shelter on Voges Road in 2000. In 2002, DCHS’s Wildlife Center, formerly known as Four Lakes Wildlife Center, began taking in ill, injured, or orphaned wildlife from throughout Southern Wisconsin. DCHS is an open admission shelter that accepts all animals that need assistance regardless of age, health status, or temperament, and it has an adoption guarantee so all healthy or treatable animals can stay as long as it takes to find a loving home. DCHS is the second largest shelter in Wisconsin, with over 100 staff members and hundreds of volunteers providing comfort and care to animals every day. DCHS is a donor-supported, private non-profit that receives most of its funding from community donations and offers humane education programs, community-based care for pets, foster care for animals for survivors of domestic abuse, a pet food pantry, dog training classes, and wildlife rehabilitation. DCHS holds a long-standing contract with Public Health Madison and Dane County to provide shelter and care for stray animals, bite quarantine, and rabies prevention, and it serves as the stray holding facility for Dane County, reuniting hundreds of companion animals with their families every year.
The DCHS leadership and governance team includes Executive Director Pam McCloud Smith; Assistant Executive Director Doug Brown; Director of Animal Operations Sarah Byerley; Director of Development and Marketing Amy Good; Controller & Building Director Sara Hoven; Donor Engagement and Operations Manager Sarah Linn; Development and Communications Supervisor Lisa Bernard; Donor Services Specialist Kelsie Matt; Associate Directors of Development Paul Vornholt and Hilary Tiran; Community Partnerships & Communications Coordinator Elizabeth Moore; Business Partnerships & Communications Coordinator Erin Niemisto; Humane Educator – Education Programs Focus Faith Larson; Donor Engagement Co Lauren Vanderlinden; and board members Maggie Premo (President), Beth Jacobsen (Vice President), Amy Manthey (Treasurer), Cathy Holmes (Secretary), and board members Dan Aiman, Bryan Althouse, Amy Johnson, Jim Madden, Laura Murray, Linn Roth, James Steinbach, and Joe Zitzelsberger. DCHS states that it provides refuge, healing, and new beginnings to thousands of companion animals, exotic species, barnyard animals, and injured or orphaned wild animals every year, and that its volunteers and professionals work together in the spirit of “Helping People Help Animals” with a vision that communities are better with an ethic of empathy, care, and value for people and animals.
Last updated June 4, 2026.
• Ages: 7–12 years old
• Schedule: Themed, week-long day camps held Monday through Friday from June through August, with some Epic Ecosystems sessions offered as 3-day mini-weeks.
• Price: Full Monday–Friday weeks cost $365 for 8:30 am–3:30 pm or $445 with aftercare until 5:00 pm; 3-day mini-weeks cost $220 for 8:30 am–3:30 pm or $265 with aftercare until 5:00 pm.
Camp Pawprint is hosted by Dane County Humane Society (DCHS), which offers Camp Pawprint during Summer Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, and as Day Camps. Summer themes include Animal Avengers, which focuses on animal “super powers” and how animals use their senses; Critter Careers, which focuses on professions that involve working with and caring for animals; Epic Ecosystems, which highlights unique biomes and how ecosystems work together; and Earth Guardians, which focuses on caring for the planet and living things through exploration of ecosystems, wildlife, waste, energy, and conservation. Campers spend a lot of time with classroom animals and sometimes meet guest animal visitors, but they do not pet adoptable dogs, cats, or critters around the shelter. Campers bring a packed lunch and their own snacks, and DCHS uses hay and peanut butter for animal enrichment and does not provide a hay- and peanut-free facility. Camp Pawprint staff is not trained to handle all emotional and behavioral conditions, and if a child has a one-on-one teacher or aide at school, an aide must be provided for them to attend camp. A limited amount of need-based financial aid is available for camp fees, and Camp Pawprint donations may be used for camp scholarships, new speakers, extra craft supplies, or other camp program needs.
Dane County Humane Society was founded in 1921, built a permanent shelter on Pennsylvania Avenue in Madison in 1965, and opened the current shelter on Voges Road in 2000. In 2002, DCHS’s Wildlife Center, formerly known as Four Lakes Wildlife Center, began taking in ill, injured, or orphaned wildlife from throughout Southern Wisconsin. DCHS is an open admission shelter that accepts all animals that need assistance regardless of age, health status, or temperament, and it has an adoption guarantee so all healthy or treatable animals can stay as long as it takes to find a loving home. DCHS is the second largest shelter in Wisconsin, with over 100 staff members and hundreds of volunteers providing comfort and care to animals every day. DCHS is a donor-supported, private non-profit that receives most of its funding from community donations and offers humane education programs, community-based care for pets, foster care for animals for survivors of domestic abuse, a pet food pantry, dog training classes, and wildlife rehabilitation. DCHS holds a long-standing contract with Public Health Madison and Dane County to provide shelter and care for stray animals, bite quarantine, and rabies prevention, and it serves as the stray holding facility for Dane County, reuniting hundreds of companion animals with their families every year.
The DCHS leadership and governance team includes Executive Director Pam McCloud Smith; Assistant Executive Director Doug Brown; Director of Animal Operations Sarah Byerley; Director of Development and Marketing Amy Good; Controller & Building Director Sara Hoven; Donor Engagement and Operations Manager Sarah Linn; Development and Communications Supervisor Lisa Bernard; Donor Services Specialist Kelsie Matt; Associate Directors of Development Paul Vornholt and Hilary Tiran; Community Partnerships & Communications Coordinator Elizabeth Moore; Business Partnerships & Communications Coordinator Erin Niemisto; Humane Educator – Education Programs Focus Faith Larson; Donor Engagement Co Lauren Vanderlinden; and board members Maggie Premo (President), Beth Jacobsen (Vice President), Amy Manthey (Treasurer), Cathy Holmes (Secretary), and board members Dan Aiman, Bryan Althouse, Amy Johnson, Jim Madden, Laura Murray, Linn Roth, James Steinbach, and Joe Zitzelsberger. DCHS states that it provides refuge, healing, and new beginnings to thousands of companion animals, exotic species, barnyard animals, and injured or orphaned wild animals every year, and that its volunteers and professionals work together in the spirit of “Helping People Help Animals” with a vision that communities are better with an ethic of empathy, care, and value for people and animals.
Last updated June 4, 2026.
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