Using Animal Care to Promote Empathy in Children

Even before the sun was fully up, the queues of people waiting to benefit from the spay day services spilled out onto the road from the gates of Mkhuzweni Primary School. People from the area were keen not to miss out on this rare opportunity to have their dogs attended to by medical professionals. People had registered in advance over 6 days the week previous.

So on the morning of we were able to divide people into two queues - one for those who brought their dog to be neutered and the other for those who had brought their dog for a check-up and vaccinations.

Our goal on the day is to keep people and their animals moving steadily through the clinical, surgery, recovery and discharge stations. Testament to the brilliant vets and amazing team of people we had working that day is that 51 dogs were operated on and another 112 received clinical treatment, all under make shift conditions.

My duties of the day began at the gate where it was my job to ensure people were in the correct line, and explain the front desk process. People and animals need to be checked in against their registration information, and each dog or cat tagged accordingly.

Dogs of the owners I was talking to were animals the likes of which I had never seen. The minority looked in good condition but at their worst these dogs looked like they had been kept in concentration camps. Their fur seemed to barely hold their bones together and was covered in sores and bitten away by fleas. They had been brought there in all manner of makeshift leads; ropes, string, chains, bits of material that even looked like pulleys you find in factories.

From the leaping and attempts to scurry away from their owners, it was clear that for many of these dogs being on a lead was a new experience. Already by 8 a.m. I knew this was going to be a day that I will never forget.

Links:

• http://www.vusumnotfo.org

Rhino is a Jack Russell dog that belongs to Kathy, Vusumnotfo’s director. She is a well over 10 years old hence the jacket to stay warm in the winter weather.

On May 29, I and another staff member took Rhino to Mkhuzweni Preschool. Our objective was to show the children the careful way to handle a dog. Because of her short size, the children were so excited to see Rhino. The average dog in rural Swaziland tends to be tall and slim, so a very short Jack Russell was completely different. Plus Rhino’s jacket made them laugh as this is not a sight they had seen before.

Thulisile and Sibongiseni, Mkhuzweni preschool teachers, attend in-service training with Vusumnotfo (activity 1.2) so they are familiar with and supportive of the animal care message.

Two teachers handling 71 children is no joke yet they are amazing at how they go about it. They separated the children into groups of 5 so that all children could have a chance to pet Rhino. Some were happy to do so and others needed to be encouraged and guided by the teachers.

Children being children, they soon started sharing stories about their dogs at home; some happy stories, some not so happy stories, and one who has a dog named Obama.

This community spay clinic is related to Vusumnotfo's programme objective  "to increase participants' knowledge of early childhood development and learning, including factors that influence this". 

A negative factor is the lack of animal care that contributes to normalizing high rates of domestic violence children regularly witness and experience within their home environment. 

A positive factor is the healthy animals resulting from our annual spay clinic, which in turn results in the positive companionship that naturally arises between a healthy dog or cat and their home environment. 

With much appreciation for your continued support in helping make this happen.

Links:

• http://www.vusumnotfo.org