Basic welfare needs should be covered in the National Curriculum charity calls
Have you ever noticed those Facebook Pages dedicated to buying and selling animals? Littered with posts by people trying to re home the same staffordshire bull terrier for the third time. Or perhaps, free to good home: Two rabbits and cage. ‘My kids got bored of them’.
Now, UK feline charity and member of the Animal Welfare Education Alliance (AWEA) the Cats Protection, is calling for a change in the draft National Curriculum. The charity wants to ensure school children are learning the basics of being responsible pet owners.
AWEA research finds 10 million of the UK’s 22 million pets are not having their needs met. Perhaps unsurprising considering that only16 per cent of school children are being taught how to care for pets at school.
Cats Protection is calling on its supporters to contact their MP, asking for an amendment to the National Curriculum for England, which is out for consultation until 16 April.
The draft curriculum references the most basic survival needs of animals to be water, food and air.
But critics are saying this doesn’t not go far enough. The five basic welfare needs as set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 – environment, diet, behaviour, companionship and prevention of pain, suffering and disease – are more suitable.
Cats Protection spokesperson Jacqui Cuff said “Teaching children to care for and respect animals from an early age is essential – it can bring about positive change for animals and society as a whole. Together with the other members of the AWEA Cats Protection will be submitting a formal response to the Department for Education’s (DFE) consultation on the draft curriculum. We are also seeking a meeting with the Minister for Schools.
“We are not asking for costly reviews or for expensive studies. We are asking for a simple tweak in the wording which would enable teachers to better prepare children for their lives ahead as responsible members of society.”
For more information, visit: www.cats.org.uk