New Initiative Teaches Kids About Animal Sentience

by ANC Staff and CIWF

Mourning elephants, altruistic lions and compassionate cows are at the heart of a unique new initiative by Compassion in World Farming Trust (CIWF Trust) to encourage a different approach to understanding the role of animals in society by understanding their inner minds and feelings.

A website and interactive forum at www.animalsentience.com have been launched by the organization with the aim of demonstrating to young people that animals have inner feelings and emotions. The site looks at examples in pets, farm animals and wild animals.

Covering diverse topics such as the relationship between a cow and her calf, how dolphins grieve for a partner, how bees sacrifice themselves to protect the hive and the intelligence of chickens, the materials are designed to provoke thought and discussion.

Revd Professor Michael Reiss from the Institute of Education, London University endorsed the approach.

"Changing society’s views about animals is vital if we want to improve animal welfare," Professor Reiss said. "Encouraging young people to explore the issues associated with animal minds and our treatment of animals is an important part of this change."

"Children can discuss their own experiences of animals, rather than simply being presented with animals as tools used by humans for food, pleasure and sport," he added.

The web site makes extensive use of video to combine scientific data on sentience with real examples of animals’ sentient behaviour, including emotions, feelings, altruism, intelligence, communication, learning and social behaviour.

To provide increased interest for young people, the site also recommends fictional books and movies that feature examples of sentient animals.

"There are opportunities to introduce these topics in many areas of the curriculum," said Dr Jacky Turner, CIWF Trust Director of Education and Resarch. "We can advise teachers on how to use the materials in biology, geography, English, general science, art, religious education and citizenship."

"Our experiences when testing these concepts have been extremely encouraging. Children are interested in looking at animals in a different way," Dr. Turner said.

The publication of this new initiative follows the recent publication by CIWF Trust of a report, "Educating Humane Citizens" that revealed a disturbing lack of information in the school curriculum on how animals are bred and farmed for food.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.