Latest AWE news
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Humane Education and the 'most noble profession'
January 2012
To bring in the the New Year, Animal Welfare Online is focusing on the people who bring about substantive change in animal welfare education: teachers! A blog post written by Zoe Weil, the President of the Institute for Humane Education, in March of 2011, argued that the teaching profession is the 'most noble' because it takes great dedication and can have such a profound impact on both individuals and society as a whole, with humane education promoting the most positive outcomes for both humans and animals.
On that note, Animal Welfare Online hopes 2012 is a fantastic year for all those involved in promoting and delivering animal welfare education around the world.
Virtual Animal Welfare Library
December, 2011
The Norwegian University of Life Sciences has begun the creation of a brand new Virtual Animal Welfare Library, that aims to be a comprehensive database of computer based educational resources in animal welfare. Courses are drawn from an extremely wide range of providers and cover a host of subjects, from behaviour to nutrition and physiology.
Improving Young Students' Attitudes Towards Animals
November, 2011We highlight a study published in 2008 in the journal Society and Animals, which looked at the effects of a humane education programme in an American elementary school. The study concluded that an in-class approach could create a significant and positive change in students' attitudes in relation to animals, though perhaps more importantly it was one of the first papers to use a rigorous methodology to measure and evaluate such a change in attitudes with respect to an animal welfare programme.
Animal Welfare and Global Food Security
A recent article from the FAO looks at the roles veterinarians can play in animal welfare and global food security, highlighting the way the vets' role has evolved to become a multifunctional professional, with a remit that covers not only an animal's health and welfare, but the consequent impacts they have on issues such as the environment, community relations and agricultural production.
Riskland
October, 2011
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) joined the celebration of International Risk Reduction Day on the 13th of October, by organising an online contest on the Riskland game for 25 Mexican and Costa Rican children.
The original Riskland board game was created by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the International Federation for the Red Cross (IFRC) and UNICEF, as a fun way to teach children about the importance of preventing disasters. WSPA then partnered with these organisations to bring the boardgame online in an innovative new version that includes the protection of animals during emergencies.
Progress for ORCA
ORCA, the Organisation for Respect and Care of Animals, a Serbian not-for-profit that promotes animal welfare solutions, has two greats pieces of news to share this month. Firstly, their animal welfare training programme for teachers, 'Animal Welfare and Us', has now become an obligatory part of professional development for all teachers. Since its inception in 2007, the programme has trained more than 1000 teachers and councillors.
Secondly, ORCA has made significant progress in its work with UNICEF's 'Schools Without Violence' programme, which specifically recognises that animal abuse can be an indicator of violent behaviour in children. Building on this, ORCA has now developed a range of initiatives, from annual school programmes to promote and develop a sense of respect within students towards animals, to protocols about how to deal with cases where animals have been violent towards children or vice versa.
The Role of Critical Thinking in the Future of Humane Education
Nicole Forsyth, President and CEO of RedRover, has written an illuminating blog post about how critical thinking can be integrated into the practical application of Humane Education in the classroom. Read it here.
ASPCA's Angels in Top Hats Grant for Humane Education
The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is awarding the inaugural "Angels in Top Hats Humane Education" grant to American based not-for-profits or government departments that work in promoting humane education and have a positive and tangible effect on animal welfare. The grant will be awarded to projects which are judged to be innovative and high-impact and is for the amount of $25,000. The deadline for submissions is the 21st of October, 2011, and the application can be viewed here.
Online animal welfare course
The Online Certificate in Animal Welfare is a course provided by the Cambridge e-learning Institute (CEI). Each course is composed of a series of online lectures, which include reading materials, multimedia presentations and discussion forums. Courses range from Concepts in Animal Behaviour to Welfare of Animals Used in Research, and the certificate is available in both English and Portuguese. For more information visit the CEI website.
Austrian resources for teachers and kids
September, 2011
Tierschutz macht Schule, a leading Austrian animal welfare organisation has produced a set of teaching resources aimed at improving the teaching of animal welfare concepts in the classroom. The organisation is committed to producing teaching aids based on scientific fact and lobbying for animal welfare to become a fixed part of the Austrian curriculum. The resources range from booklets on pets (Tierprofi Heimtiere) and farm animals (Tierprofi Nutziere), all the way through to how best to approach the concepts and issues associated with wild (Tierprofi Wildtiere) and laboratory animals (Tierprofi Versuchstiere).
All the resources are available to order in German from their website, with example sections in English.
RedRover online course for Texas educators!
August 2011
RedRover is offering an online self-paced course through Humane Society University. Currently this online course is only open to teachers in Texas, USA, but we hope to offer additional courses to teachers in additional states in the coming year.
This course is a three-week course with five hours of course work. Teachers work at their own pace to accomplish the required tasks within the three-week time period. The course runs from October 17 to November 4. Teachers can earn five hours of Continuing Education Credit for attending. Teachers learn how to implement the RedRover Readers curriculum. There is a $55 registration fee to attend this workshop. The Humane Literacy course is similar to the volunteer training workshops that RedRover offers to community members and would-be volunteers except this course is taught online and exclusively for teachers.
For more information on the RedRover Readers program, please visit www.redrover.org/readers.
Download an informational flier about this online course.
WSPA Disaster Management team release a Public Service Announcement about disaster preparedness
July 2011
Many of us have pets whom we consider to be members of the family – but how many of us are actually prepared to keep them safe during an unexpected disaster?
Animals are often displaced or abandoned during earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados. Many suffer terribly from injuries, or endure hunger and dehydration. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Watch this animated public service announcement from WSPA, and read more on the WSPA website, to learn what you can do to protect your pets ahead of an emergency.
Bears of the World Resource updated
June 2011
The WSPA Bears of the World resource has been updated and is now an interactive CD-ROM that includes a booklet detailing threats to the different bear species and some facts about bear behaviour as well as a short quiz for students. The CD contains a world map highlighting the distribution of bear species across the world and bear fact sheets giving specific details of all bear species. The newest edition to the resource, also on the CD, is a collection of lesson idea activities specifically designed to use with the Bears of the World resource. To request a copy please email the education team at WSPA.
Latham Foundation Film Caring Careers wins two awards
The Latham Foundation is pleased to announce that its film Caring Careers has won two Bronze Telly Awards. Caring Careers won the Bronze award (2nd place) in both the “Children's Audience” category and the “Education” category.
Filmmaker Tula Asselanis spent endless hours spent writing, directing, and editing this effective and beneficial film that explores various animal-oriented professions that require less formal training than that needed to become a veterinarian.
You can watch a short clip on You Tube. Alternatively, additional details and ordering information are available at on the Latham Foundation website.
Teaching for a positive future
11th July - 19th August
Educators: Help prepare your students for their future. Learn how to inspire your students to become leaders & changemakers for a healthy, humane, and sustainable world. Sign up for IHE’s online course, Teaching for a Positive Future (runs July 11-August 19). CEUs available. Find out more on the IHE website.
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies opens a new Animal Welfare Centre.
June 2011
This exciting new Centre for Animal Welfare Education has been established at the University of Edinburgh’s, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies as a result of a generous donation by the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust.
The Centre is based at the new Easter Bush Campus of The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, and will provide a hub of animal welfare expertise for animal welfare education across the globe.
The Centre will have an important role in improving the quality of life for animals through education and training. We know that by debating the issues, raising awareness of concerns and pushing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable across different borders we can make a positive impact for animal welfare today and in the future both within and outside of the veterinary profession. For more details please visit the Edinburgh University website.
WSPA publishes the 'Vet Files'
May 2011
Animal welfare is fundamental to the veterinary profession. WSPA’s education programme in animal welfare, developed over several years, is currently used by veterinary and animal science students around the world. Our Veterinary Emergency Response Units (VERUs), based in university veterinary faculties, train vet students to respond to disasters and provide the equipment and systems they need.
WSPA has produced a booklet to champion the concept of animal welfare in veterinary work, Vet Files WSPA’s vets: leading the way in animal welfare.
In fact, WSPA employs 24 vets of our own. They contribute to our research, campaigns and education programmes and help co-ordinate our disaster response work.
If you would like to read more about WSPA's involvement in Vet Year please click here.
Young Alliance for Animals
May 2011
The residents of Llanos de Santa Lucía, in the province of Cartago, Costa Rica, may not have money, paved streets, basic services, adequate sanitary conditions and opportunities to work and study, but a group of young people are demonstrating plenty of will and commitment in their decision to forge a better future and change their community by helping animals.
The Youth Alliance for Animals (Alianza Juvenil por los Animales - ALJA) arose as the result of a series of animal welfare tasks that Arts teacher Ana María Castro assigned her middle school students.
“There’s no point teaching art for art’s sake. Education should be an agent of change, a way of getting closer to people and improving their situation”, said the educator. She took advantage of an agreement between the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Costa Rica’s Ministry of Education to receive training and advising about animal welfare.
Thanks to ALJA, her 13 to 15 year-old students are becoming aware of the problems in their community, avoiding the pitfall of drugs and crime and being motivated to stay in school and spend their free time learning about veterinary care and computer sciences to help animals, among other things.
Click here for more details.
Animal Hero Kids
April 2011
Two dozen children and teenagers from Florida and elsewhere in the nation were honoured as National Animal Hero Kids recently, and relished the opportunity to hang out with famous Miami Dolphins player Ricky Williams.
Animal Hero Kids awards are presented by Humane Educators Reaching Out (HERO), an organization established by Jupiter Farms resident Susan Hargreaves to promote kindness and respect for all species. For more information about HERO please visit their website. This ceremony was created to recognise the brilliant efforts of all the young people in the USA who act or speak out on behalf of animals, from foxes and coyotees to sea turtles and orcas.
