After Child Breaks Puppy’s Legs in Lawton, PETA Offers Humane Education
TeachKind Stresses Need to Teach Anti-Bullying and Empathy in the Classroom in Wake of Horrific Attack
For Immediate Release:
October 22, 2018
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
TeachKind (PETA’s humane education division) sent letters this morning calling on schools in the area to implement humane education. The letters were sent in response to reports that a child was caught on a family’s home video camera entering their yard four times—the final time with a baseball bat—to beat their 6-month-old puppy in a violent attack that reportedly left the dog traumatized and in need of extensive surgery to repair his broken bones.
TeachKind—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—is mailing Lawton-area elementary schools free copies of its Share the World curriculum kit, which includes lesson plans designed to help educators teach even the youngest learners to have empathy for animals. The group has also offered the middle and high schools in the county free “Bullies Are Just Cowards: Report Abuse When You See It!” posters, noting that it’s vital that a standard of compassion be set and that students be taught that violence toward any living, feeling being is wrong.
“Bullying and violence are sweeping through schools today, and it’s crucial that educators teach students that it’s not acceptable to hurt animals—let alone beat a dog in a sustained attack,” says PETA Associate Director of Youth Campaigns Rachelle Owen. “TeachKind is urging schools to implement humane education and help prevent anyone else from getting hurt.”
TeachKind notes that according to leading mental-health professionals and law-enforcement agencies, perpetrators of violent acts against animals are often repeat offenders who pose a serious threat to the community at large. Its staff is available to send materials to schools, suggest lesson plans, and even host classroom presentations for students via Skype—all for free.
The group’s letter is available upon request. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org.
