FREEPORT – Young Aiko Clougherty-Gray has a dog, two guinea pigs and two chickens at her home in Freeport, and she wants to learn more about the proper care of animals.

Gray and several other Freeport-area children ages 9-13 are getting that opportunity. The Action for Animals Summer Camp, a collaboration between Freeport Community Education and the Community Spay-Neuter Clinic of Freeport, is providing them with a range of projects and activities in and away from Freeport Middle School. The first session was held last week, and the second is this week, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Clougherty-Gray, 9, says she wants people to treat animals fairly.

“Some people don’t think that animals have feelings, but I think it’s important for people to know they do,” she said during a camp session last Thursday. “They can feel what we can feel.”

The children have taken a field trip to Homeless Animal Rescue Team of Maine, a shelter and adoption center for cats in Cumberland. They have held a bake sale at Bow Street Market and donated the proceeds to an animal-welfare cause of their choice. They have learned about animal welfare from books and from discussions with veterinarian Elizabeth Stone, founding director of the Center for Wildlife Health Research and the Spay-Neuter Clinic. The children have collected collages for journals they are keeping. They have gone bird watching, too.

“I’m learning about endangered animals and how to help,” Clougherty-Gray said. “Like not using plastic bottles, and writing letters.

Stone said she encourages the students not only to learn, but also to think for themselves. And she happens to be a bird lover. That’s why she favors keeping cats indoors – always.

“We talk about keeping cats indoors,” Stone said. “Over a billion birds are killed in this country a year by cats.”

Stone founded the nonprofit Center for Wildlife Health Research as a mean of helping people make choices to protect the environment. The focus has been primarily on the Community Spay-Neuter Clinic, which helps to subsidize low-cost surgeries for pets. She graduated from Princeton University in 1985 with a degree in biology, and from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. Prior to opening the Freeport clinic, she did spay-neuter surgeries at Coastal Humane Society of Brunswick.

“Our mission is to reduce the population of homeless pets,” Stone said. “Our primary focus is cats, because cats can contribute to the depopulation of song birds. We decided that education, particularly of children, is a great way to help animals. We’re focusing on building connections, and giving kids the opportunity to do something to help the animals they care about.”

Aiko Clougherty-Gray of Freeport reads about ways to help endangered animals during an Action for Animals Camp day last Thursday at Freeport Middle School.