Using Animal Care to Promote Empathy in Children

The secondary objective of this project is to raise awareness about how to use animal care to promote responsibility and empathy in young children. The “why and how” of this is explained throughout the process of conducting spay days.

For this reason, we encouraged Hlanganani Primary School to adopt two cats, so students could gain first hand exposure to the companionship that comes from a healthy and well looked after pet.

The school's Valentine tradition is to carry out activities around the theme of "spreading love in our community”.  Students divided into groups and decided on a range of activities to share "Valentines love" all around. One group made dog biscuits and took them to Swaziland Animal Welfare Society. 

The older students took it a step further by donating a fridge to the Domestic Violence Unit of the Piggs Peak Police Station.  This fridge is to stock refreshments in the interview room.  Interviews are a critical step in the process of securing convictions for domestic violence cases, a long and difficult process.  A fridge with a ready supply of refreshments to offer during the breaks necessary in this process provides a small but heartfelt token of support to people brave enough to report abuse.

A clear indicatation that these students are developing a sense of empathy and responsibility towards others. 

Our 2018 spay day is scheduled for June 30.  It will again be at Ndlalambi Primary School. We have been receiving so many requests from community members who missed out (or were too afraid) to bring their animals in 2017, so we decided to repeat the venue.  The teachers from the Preschool across the road have reported that parents have even been asking them “when is the next spay day”.

Because of your continued support, we are able to make this happen. Thank you.