Is our community becoming more cruel to animals?

One of our biggest fears at RSPCA ACT is that cruelty to animals increases as our community becomes more violent. Sadly, we are responding to an increasing number of cases where young people are involved. This is not just something we see in the ACT but across the country.

So how do we prevent cruelty to animals in future generations when they are exposed to more violence every day, whether on television, games or sometimes in their own home life?

I truly believe that one of the greatest gifts we can give our community is to teach children how to care for and respect animals.  How should a child act when they accidentally step on the tail of their pet or if they see injured wildlife? Can they empathise with their pain? Do they want to help it?

While many children are naturally drawn to aid an animal in distress, others will wait until their parents’ model the appropriate reaction. But what if their parents have shown no remorse or concerns? Will the child mimic that behaviour? 

For decades, RSPCA ACT has tried to teach kids the right way to treat animals. We have employed staff and recruited volunteers to visit schools and teach kids about animals. The typical method would involve us attending an assembly or classroom with an animal in tow at the request of a teacher or principal. Unfortunately, this approach was largely ad hoc, and the children generally paid more attention to the animal rather than our RSPCA representative’s words. As such, these programs have not proven to be effective.

Therefore a few years ago, RSPCA ACT embarked upon a different type of children’s education program, using 3D animations. It took some time to obtain a grant to help fund a pilot program, but we have recently deployed our first episode of ‘Inspector Izzy Animal Rescue’ to some focus group classrooms, where preliminary results have been very positive.  

Inspector Izzy is an animated dog that is dressed as an RSPCA inspector. With her sidekick, Ivan the Van, they respond to calls for help from animals and educate their owners in the process. These short lessons (less than five minutes each) are aimed at kids as young as four years old, and cover topics from appropriate shelter, to dogs in hot cars, and even sunburn and dental hygiene for pets. 

I have to admit that this program has been a labour of love for me, and with the recent support from the other RSPCA CEOs from around the country, I spent last week writing eight more episodes to prepare for a national roll-out next financial year.

Hopefully, this digital education program will be successful in teaching the next generation of kids how to prevent cruelty to animals in a format that is both entertaining and educational. After all, the children of today are the future pet owners of tomorrow.