Mackenzie Tecco

10800 Highway 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
843-650-5600

25 April 2017

Senior Digital Exploration Judges

10800 Highway 707
Murrells Inlet, SC 29577

Dear Judges:

My name is Mackenzie Tecco, I am a senior at St. James High School here in Murrells Inlet.
During high school I have been involved in the health science and sports medicine programs, I
am also involved in the athletic training intern program. I also have been on the varsity wrestling
team for all four years. I am planning on attending King University next year where I will
continue my education and my wrestling career. There at King I plan on going into their nursing
program.

I have been volunteering for five years for Coastal Animal Rescue and All4Paws but I have been
rescuing animals for seven years . I have always loved caring for animals since I was young. It
all started out when I heard about someone who had pitbull puppies and they were not taking
care of them properly. The people were not feeding them and they were kept outside constantly,
they also were hitting them. When I found that out, I went down there and offered the owners
fifty dollars for all twelve of their dogs. I went home and took care of all of the dogs and found a
home for all of the dogs except one. Her name was Peanut, she was the runt of the litter and she
is the reason I am still rescuing dogs to this day. Since then I have rescued and fostered close to
ninety dogs, twenty six ducks, fifty plus cats, and even two snakes and a tarantula.

My senior project is on why people should adopt dogs from shelters versus buying them from a
breeder or from a pet store. For my service hours I decided to foster a puppy from Coastal
Animal Shelter. I picked up the dog from the shelter from the shelter. His name is Cricket he is
an 8 weeks old. When I first saw Cricket he was covered in dirt, fleas, and his his own feces. He
came from someone out in Marion who was breeding dogs for a profit. It was a terrible
situation. Over the time period that I was fostering Cricket I got to teach him basic commands
like sit, come, and I potty trained him. I also helped him get over his separation anxiety and
socialized him with different types of animals and new people to get him ready for a new home.
It did not take long to get Cricket a home. A woman contacted me about him and we had to go
through the whole adoption process. We did a home check, we made sure her own dogs got
along with Cricket, we finished up his first few rounds of shots and she filled out her application.
She was a perfect fit for him.

I can not thank the judges enough for taking some of their own time to listen to my presentation.
Without people willing to give up their time we would not have the Senior Exploration Project.

Sincerely,
Mackenzie Tecco
Mackenzie Tecco