The Importance of Humane Education

I have often listed many reasons for the public why Humane Education should be an embedded and consistent part of the school curriculum. Here are some of the reasons it should be a part of Peace and Character Education:

Why should we consider Humane Education a crucial component of Peace Education?

Young people are frequently referred to Metro Animal Services by the juvenile court system in order to perform community service work. Due to the physical organization and small staff, it is difficult for employees to directly supervise all of these young people and they are not receiving the intervention a structured program could provide. A PEACE education program could provide such a program to court-referred workers under 18.

Our schools offer an opportunity to prevent animal-related accidents and bites through Bite Safety courses, to teach children the importance of preventative health in pets (spaying and neutering, specifically) and more intensive community service projects.

“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” Margaret Mead, anthropologist

1. It’s more than “little old ladies in tennis shoes” saving homeless puppies. Stray animals are a public health concern and problems with stray and unaltered pets should be addressed as such.
2. Kindness to pets is directly related to the development of empathy and empathy for others is crucial to a sense of community.
3. In families where domestic violence is a way of life, pets are also battered. Neighbors are more likely to “meddle” (report and intervene) if witnessing animal abuse than spousal or child abuse. In addition, animal abuse is an early indicator of conduct disorder and sociopathology. Nonviolent families with pets produce children with greater prosocial skills.
4. Humane education teaches young people how to have respect for their neighbors and other citizens’ rights to common spaces such as parks and sidewalks.
5. Oppressions to people are similar in structure to oppressions to animals, and many theorists suggest there are links between racism, sexism, and speciesism.
6. Kindness to animals promotes peace and nonviolence and children relate to animals as powerless victims in a seemingly arbitrary society.
7. Early interventions in humane education are shown to have a positive impact on a child’s development of empathy and compassion.
8. Animal have intrinsic value and add to our quality of life.

Humane Education also relates to Environmental Education:

Why should we consider Humane Education a crucial component of Environmental Education?

Kindness to pets is a gateway to an environmental ethic.

1. Animals offer a perspective on global issues that becomes personal; i.e. the production of cosmetics, medicines, clothing, and food.
2. Humane education honors the individual as a component of the biotic community.
3. Children can focus attention on animals in our immediate eco-spaces.
4. Kindness to animals promotes peace and nonviolence.
5. Animal have intrinsic value and add to our quality of life.

Suggestions for integrating humane education into the current program:

Animal assisted classroom visits from the humane educator

Youth intervention programs targeted at lowering incidents of animal related crimes and violations

Lesson plans embedded with core content and animal-related issues (see attached)

Tours of the animal shelter

Career paths that lead to animal enforcement and welfare

Books and literacy programs that use assistance animals and focus on humane issues

Extracurricular activities for older children involving service to welfare groups

Science and social studies projects that investigate and seek solutions to animal related problems such as dangerous dog legislation, rabies and licensing enforcement, animal cruelty as a felony, animals in the classroom and as research subjects, vegetarianism.

I attempted to integrate these interventions into my daily activities as Public Education Coordinator at Metro Animal Services (2006-2008). I even offered programs to children as young as 3 in order to prevent bites and accidents with animals.

A 24 year old man was recently charged with animal cruelty in Louisville, KY for torturing and killing cats. You can read the stories here:

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13782079

I have been astounded and pleased that the people in this community have responded to this incident with such fervor. The connection between interpersonal violence and animal abuse is pretty well accepted within the mental health community as a by-product of conduct disorder and socio-pathic tendencies. What can everyday people do to prevent these types of crimes?

First of all, to quote anthropologist Margaret Mead, the worst thing that can happen to a child is to abuse and animal AND GET AWAY WITH IT. If you see a child abusing an animal, intervene immediately! You may have to do so anonymously for your own safety, and you can do that when you call Animal Services or your local sheriff. Do not let any child get away with animal abuse or neglect.

Praise children when you see them interacting with animals in kind, empathetic, and pro-social ways. Teach your pets how to behave around children so that when you walk them, children can approach and pet them. Teach children HOW to approach your pet, and always closely supervise them together. Never leave a child alone with a pet, even your own pet. Most children report to me that they have been bitten by their own family cat or dog.

If there is a child in your neighborhood who is not only torturing or abusing animals but also seems overly interested in fire setting, you may have a potential violent offender in training. Do not only report this child to animal authorities, but also to CPS. Chances are that if the pets are being abused in a home suspected of violence, so are the people who live there. If you live in Louisville, KY you can access these agencies by calling 311. If you don't see results, be persistent. You could save a life.

These are only a sample of the ways animals can inform us of our social environments. This blog will continue to provide resources, history, and observations on the human-companion animal bond.