For her Gold Award project, local Girl Scout Troop 50055 member Audrey Christensen, a student at Western Connecticut State University, has created, what she calls, a “petwork” to offer pet owners information on what do to with pets in an emergency.

Since starting the project roughly two years ago, Audrey has created a Facebook group, facebook.com/groups/303800054217760; brochures; and a website, audreysfurryfriend.wixsite.com/goldaward, to help spread the helpful information she has gathered.

“It took me quite a while because of COVID. It kind of delayed my plans,” said Audrey in a recent phone interview.

The idea for the project first came to her after participating in a drive to support Oklahoma residents following a tornado. She knew information about what to do for pets in an emergency situation would have built awareness.

She most wants people to know that “[they] are able to protect their pets more, so when there is a storm or whatever, you don’t hear about pets winding up in the shelter or the storm.”

She conducted research for the project, and one of the top things she learned was there is not a lot of information available on the subject, and some of it was unclear. She worked to gather information, made available on the website, Facebook group, and through her brochures.

Audrey says her Gold Award was officially awarded to her recently and it is expected to arrive in the coming weeks. By completing a Gold Award in a pandemic, Audrey said, she learned “patience is key.” She had to change her project a number of times to adjust to the current situation.

Audrey also said she is grateful for Girl Scout Troop 50055, Newtown Animal Control, her Gold Award project mentor Hilary Micalizzi, and her mother Nicole Christensen, who was also Troop 50055’s leader, for their support of her project.

Her website explains, “For my gold award, I wanted to bring awareness to educate the public on how to keep pets from becoming lost, and how to manage pets in times of crisis (storms, sickness, holidays, and more.)”

Posts on the website include information, from “useful tips and phone numbers” to “storms and evacuations.”