We're honored to have the support of BigHearts.Org.
People are shocked to learn that most animals going into shelters are not strays from the streets and desert, but instead are companion animals surrendered by owners who are no longer willing or able to take care of them.
One answer to solving our community's extremely severe animal overpopulation crisis is education.
Humane education is the key to keeping animals from being passed around from home to home or home to shelter, thereby endangering their lives and resulting in them losing the people they have come to love unconditionally. And it also will result in increased owners and guardians spaying and neutering their animals, giving them proper vaccinations, and equipping them with appropriate ID tags and microchips, and so on.
Humane education is a vast task, appropriate for people of all ages. We can positively impact an animal's life by meeting with schoolchildren to instill the concept that animals should be members of the family. We can educate adults about properly planning adoptions and taking steps to maintain the animal in the home. And there are numerous other examples of ways humane education makes a most important difference every day.
The SPCA continues to expand its humane education programs and efforts each year. Here's what's in the works now....
- We are beginning now our second year of humane education presentations to elementary students across the valley. We visit at least one new school each week to make a humane education presentation. An "ambassador" dog accompanies the presenter, who is one of our board members and who is also a teacher, to help emphasize the messages of compassion for animals. Besides the theme that each animal wants and deserves to be a member of the family, instead of an ornament or "thing," we also help the students with basic notions of care and enlist their help in stopping dog-fighting.We also give them pointers on what to do when they see an animal in need in their neighborhood. The program has received great acclaim and feedback.
- We also make presentations upon invitation to students of other grade levels. For example, we have visited with the preschool students in Summerlin, and with the law students at UNLV.
- We also promote humane education through internships and volunteer service from students
- We provide school tours of the NSPCA sanctuary
- We participate in humane education assemblies
- Our front office staff provides assistance and guidance to hundreds of callers daily!
- We conduct media outreach efforts on TV, radio, print, and the internet.
- And, we supply humane education materials at special events and presentations.
- Plus so much more.
The sanctuary absorbs so much of our budget, so most of our humane education work is a result of volunteer service and our personal time. (For example, our teacher at the presentations is donating her time and talents.)
We are very committed to humane education and strongly feel that the sky is the limit in what can be achieved with more funding.
We are in the process of creating some of our humane education materials for elementary students for the upcoming school year and we would like to schedule more tours and assemblies.
The funds raised from your project could go far into making sure that we have the best possible supplemental materials for the students and can reach them in an ongoing basis with powerful messages of compassion and respect for animals.
Thanks again,
