“When man learns to respect even the smallest being of creation… nobody has to teach him to love his fellow man.
Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.”
~Albert Schweitzer
In 2016-2017 alone, SPCA has rescued 2,051 animals who were victims of animal cruelty. Among these cases, they have carried out 647 cruelty and animal welfare investigations. Thereafter, a total of 812 animals have been adopted. (Source: www.spca.org.sg)
With the rising number of animal cruelty cases here in Singapore, we can’t help but wonder what’s in store for our furry little friends in the future if we don’t start making tiny steps NOW?
So, aside from teaching the children about kindness and compassion to the people around their community, this year we embarked on making our first tiny step towards spreading awareness on responsible pet ownership. We believe that when we teach children about compassion to animals while they are still young, they will eventually grow up being more kind, not only to animals but also to people.
Our K-level teachers started off with a training and a visit to AVA. Upon returning to the centre, the teachers developed lesson plans for them to share with children on topic like: Responsible Pet Ownership, Freedoms of Animals, Laws that Protects Animals, Considerations Before Getting a Pet, Common Animal Complaints, and General Care for Pets. These lessons were aided by story books, videos, and actual case studies of neglect and abandonment of pets.
To further extend the children’s learning, we have also invited ‘Causes for Animals Singapore’ to our centre to conduct a short talk on the different considerations before getting a pet, pet adoption, and also about pet abandonment. The children also had a chance to interact with ‘Miki’, a rescued dog that CAS had cared for and which is now in the hands of good owners after successful adoption.
We have also decided to spread awareness and share these knowledge we acquired to the residents here in Punggol. Our children prepared pledge boards and their own simple illustrations on the theme ‘Responsible Pet Ownership’.
On 16 August, we set off to Punggol Bus Interchange to interview some residents on their knowledge with ‘Responsible Pet Ownership’. After our children interviewed the residents and promoted their cause, the residents were also invited to make a pledge on being kind to animals and also to adopt pets rather than buying.
We realised that a lot of residents here in Punggol shared the same aim with us. We even met a resident who also used to be a volunteer at a pet shelter. He was inspired with our little project and with that, he happily shared drinks with us as appreciation for our hard work.
Thereafter, we headed to Punggol Waterway Point to visit ‘Pet Safari’. We walked through the shop and saw all the different basic needs of different pets. We came to realise that it is indeed not a small job to care for pets and that it takes a lot of commitment to care for one.
We also had a chance to have an interaction with some of their small pets and also to feed the fish.
The children made a pledge themselves to continue these good practises that they have learned throughout their journey that we had even outside the school.
Through this project, the children gained more awareness of how to be more responsible pet owners and also how to be ambassadors for the welfare of pets.
