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Now that you've covered the compassion part, it's time to move on. The next step is to educate yourself so you can educate your children. There are many facets to animal welfare. Some take a hard line and believe that all creatures should have the same rights as man, others focus on improving animal shelter operations and standards, rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animal, or the most important of all education on the importance of spay/neutering.

The internet is a wonderful place to start looking for materials. There are literally millions of websites devoted to the many aspects of animal welfare. Hey, you're reading one right now! A good overall view of each aspect can be very valuable in enabling you to decide which issue you and your children would like to focus on. Children can be very serious about helping their animal friends and there is a lot they can do on their own. This article is a great place to start. It's written by another experienced rescuer and I couldn't have said it better myself.

Why Dogs Are Given Up & Mistakes Owners Make

Author: Dottie Schira
Dog Rescue Web Site http://members.nbci.com/dogs2rescue
email Dottie@doglover.com

I do in-home daycare and my daycare children interact with my furbabies and fosterbabies all the time. They are a great help to me, especially when I've got a house full of bottle babies to feed! The animals love it and the kids love it. Everyday they have the opportunity to learn about compassion and good animal care. Learning about and practicing good animal care is a great way for young children to begin. Teaching them to speak softly and move slowly around animals also teaches them to be considerate of other humans. Proper grooming, feeding and your pets need for regular exercise reinforces your child's understanding of these needs for themselves.

Learning about our slithery friends today!

Another great way to provide education on animals is to contact your local humane group to see if they have 'animal ambassadors'. Animal ambassadors are usually dogs and cats that have graduated from a special socialization class. This class is above basic obedience training and these animals work as therapy animals in nursing homes and hospitals, or go to classrooms or civic groups to interact with children. A visit to the classroom by an animal ambassador with his or her guardian is a great treat for all! My greyhound, BoofMan, was just such an ambassador for many years. We both enjoyed the experience. Talk to your child's teacher or scout leader and encourage them to consider just such a visit.

There is also a movement by All Creatures Great and Small to have humane education become part of the curriculum for grade and middle school age children. I wholeheartedly support this and encourage you to sign the attached petition to help bring this about. The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) has worked with the FBI for decades researching the link between animal abuse and escallating violence against humans. You can read about it here or send for further information on this important study. Our young people are in a crisis situation today, especially our young men. The introduction of a humane education program in our schools could be of great benefit to them.

I've just covered a few of the basics here, there are many other ways and resources available. Here are a few that I recommend.

http://www.paw-rescue.org/sn_info.html Why Spay and Neuter? (all the facts)

http://www.h4ha.org/ Hugs for Homeless Animals (general info, ways to help, campaigns)

http://www.peta-online.org/ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (action alerts, pending animal rights legislation)

http://www.bestfriends.org/index.htm Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (loaded with info)

http://www.imom.org/ In Memory of Magic (look for me and Boof at the rally in D.C.)

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