CritterKin app teaches families about responsible pet care

A local group is working to launch an app that would teach families about responsible pet care.

Vanessa Budnick, an educator at the SPCA of Wake County, tells me that the goal behind the app, called CritterKin, is to help kids and parents understand what it takes to own a dog before they get one.

"As someone who works as a Humane Educator at an animal shelter, the idea of having technology like an app to teach about responsible pet care instead of trial and error with family pets is quite exciting – not to mention the fact that it would provide this education to families around the world," Budnick writes in an email.

Among the 30 lessons that kids will learn is how to meet an animal safely; how to teach a dog to play well with others; the benefits of crate training; how to groom a dog for looks and health; and what it means to give a dog a forever home.

Budnick has helped Jena Ball, CritterKin's creator, come up with the curriculum for the app. Ball of Cary is its illustrator and writer. Ball's business partner, Marty Keltz, who was founder of Scholastic Productions and is an Emmy award-winning producer, also is working on the project.