Girl Scout Gets Gold Award for Caring for Pets

Animals have a friend in Kerriann Noel O’Boyle. The Jefferson Township High School junior just received her Girl Scout gold award for the work she did to be sure animals stay safe and healthy.

O’Boyle held a pet fair and adoption day as part of the township’s Fall Festival last October. She had a variety of vendors at the event and also sponsored an adoption of dogs and cats.

“I love animals,” O’Boyle said. “I’ve have a cat now, but I used to have a dog, goldfish, a bullfrog and many other pets.”

It took many hours of work for O’Boyle to get to her gold award, not all of it involving animals.

First she had to spend 30 hours in a leadership role. She chose to complete this requirement by working at her church, Shepherd of the Hills in Sparta, as a vacation bible school teacher.

The next step was 40 hours in an apprentice role, and this is where animals came into play. O’Boyle volunteered at the Mount Pleasant Animal Shelter in East Hanover, where she fed cats and did laundry.

Finally, she had to make a proposal for her animal fair project and started the work after approval from Girl Scout officials.

O’Boyle, who is looking to a career as a veterinarian, has been a Girl Scout since kindergarten, when she was a Daisy. She’s now a Juliette scout, which is an independent.

“I had a troop when I was younger, but the troop disbanded, so now I’m a Juliette, which is a girl without a troop,” she said. “My mom was my leader, so she was able to do all my activities with me as I got older.”

Vendors at O’Boyle’s event included Sparta Pet Shop and Spa, Banfield Hospital, Jefferson Pound, Mount Pleasant Animal Shelter, Candi’s Scissor and Suds, Canine Bay Resorts and Spa, Fuzzy Nation and Andover Hospital.