Humane Education Programs
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Many of us feel overwhelmed by animal abuse, neglect and over population. The following methods have been helpful in the welfare of animals.
1.Leash Laws
Creating and enforcing leash laws is one of the who news radio ways a city or township can begin reducing the number of unwanted animals. Many cities may have a leash law for dogs, but not one for listen radio ferrets or domestic rabbits. In order to be news radio listen the leash law must be comprehensive and apply to all animals; dogs, cats, ferrets, newsradio scripts etc. There needs to be a stiff penalty for people who ignore the law. Having a leash law creates several benefits; it’s easy for animal rescue workers to determine which animals are strays, it prevents unplanned breeding, it keeps pets from roaming so they are not likely to be hit by cars, it prevents dogs from fighting, it reduces the number of cats killed by prey dogs or dog packs, it reduces the spread of disease such as Feline Aides and Leukemia, it helps keep public opinion favorable.
2. Humane Education
Humane Education is news radio tv caring individuals or groups talk to school age children and teenagers about animals and animal care. The ASPCA website has fm radio online information about how teachers can incorporate humane education into a classroom lesson. Ideally, humane education should start in early kma radio news and continue through adolescences. The Humane Association of Michigan website has information about their very active outreach program. If you don’t have a humane education program, consider starting one at your children’s school. It takes very little time and can be great fun.
3. Zoning Laws
When cities and counties establish zoning laws that regulate how many animals a single person or newsradio stream can have, it helps prevent overpopulation. Many cities have a rule that a person can only have 4 to 5 pets in a single family home. Condominium associations typically allow up to 2 pets. Since many dogs and cat produce litters of 6-8 offspring, the homeowner is violating zoning law by allowing their animal(s) to breed. Zoning laws help reduce the number of people who breed animals for profit.
Kate Garvey is the founder and director of http://www.PetCareRCA.com which provides free pet care and animal welfare tips. wilk news radio She is also a freelance writer http://www.kategarvey.net and the author of several non-fiction kiro news radio Areas of expertise include real estate, business, web content, newsletters, womens issues and self- esteem.
A graduate from our Humane Education Certificate Program just emailed me the link to a new coloring book produced by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research. It’s called The Lucky Puppy, and it’s not simply a coloring book: it’s simple propaganda. Coming from a supposed scientific organization, it is also egregious.
In the story, two children are sad because their puppy, Lucky, is sick. Mom and children take the puppy to a veterinarian who gives him the appropriate medicine. The curious children wonder how the vet knew what medicine to give Lucky, and the vet explains:
“A long time ago, a research scientist found the medicine I gave Lucky. I’ll tell you how. She did research in a lab. A lab is a place where scientists work, and it is short for laboratory. She had mice in her lab. They lived in nice, clean cages. They were fed good food. But they were sick with the same disease Lucky had. She gave the mice many different medicines. At first, none of the medicine she tried made the mice better. But she kept trying. Then one day she tried a new medicine that helped the mice. So, she did more research using that medicine. She tried a little of it on one group of mice. But that was too little. They stayed sick. She tried a lot of it on the second group, but that was too much! They got even sicker. At last, she tried just the right amount of medicine on a third group. They all got better! It turned out the the medicine not only was good for sick mice. It also was good for sick puppies, like Lucky….”
By the end of the story, the little boy wants to be a veterinarian to help animals, but, clearly even better, the little girl wants to be a research scientist because, as she says, “Then I can help animals and people!”
What is so terribly galling about this propaganda is that it is promoting science through lies, distortion, and manipulation – the opposite of what science is. Science is meant to be rigorous, factual, and truthful. Scientists are supposed to be honest and committed to accuracy.
The Lucky Puppy would have children believe that mice happen to get sick with diseases, and that helpful scientists work diligently to cure them, helping those suffering animals, as well as people, at the same time. The Lucky Puppy omits the part about actually giving mice –- or the many other animals used in labs, including apes and monkeys, dogs, pigs, ferrets, cats, etc. — diseases, as well as starving them; burning them; practicing surgery on them; addicting them to drugs and alcohol; testing cosmetics, cleaning products, and industrial chemicals on their abraded skin, and force-feeding them huge quantities of the same in order to determine the fatal dose; using them in military research to test chemical weapons and explosives; and ultimately killing each and every one of them (with the exception of some chimpanzees, a few of whom have been allowed to live out the remainder of their lives in sanctuaries).
You may believe that it is ethical to experiment on animals no matter how much suffering it may cause them. Or you may believe that some animal experimentation is justified while others is not. Or you may be opposed to animal experimentation entirely. This issue is contentious and controversial and deserves to be debated honestly by adolescents (not young children) and adults. There are important ethical and scientific issues involved in vivisection that should be considered carefully, honestly, and deeply. So when a pro-animal research lobby turns what should be an issue in education into pure indoctrination, we should all be outraged.
This is why we need humane education, taught age-appropriately with a commitment to the 3 Cs: fostering curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. That a pro-science organization would choose blatant manipulation of little children over critical thinking is appalling. But I will use The Lucky Puppy in humane education programs, nonetheless; I’ll use it to turn help youth and adults become better critical thinkers and engaged citizens.
~ Zoe
