Animal Guardians
Animal Guardians is now taking referrals for children age 3-16 across the majority of Scotland.
Animal Guardians has now received over 300 referrals from across Scotland about its groundbreaking free education programme, which helps children nurture empathy and compassionate behaviour towards all animals, and in turn, people too.
We support children to improve their relationship with animals; children can be referred for a number of reasons including;
- Teased or frightened an animal
- Physically harmed an animal
- Rough handling of an animal
- Unable to understand an animal’s emotions and its behaviour
- Unable to respect an animal’s space and boundaries
- Cut whiskers/fur off an animal
- Witnessed harm to an animal
- Killed an animal
- At risk of harming an animal
- Removed wildlife from its home
Developed to help children who are showing concerning behaviours towards animals, the programme comprises of approximately 10 weekly one-to-one sessions with one of the Society’s youth engagement officers. Through adaptable games, activities and discussion, children improve their knowledge and understanding of animal emotions, needs and the responsibilities involved in caring for all animals.
Animal Guardians has already received an initial evaluation through collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. The research findings show that children who completed Animal Guardians had significant improvements in:
- Their knowledge of animal welfare needs.
- Their belief in animal sentience.
- Recognition and understanding of human and animal emotions.
- Empathetic responses to animals.
We have expanded Animal Guardians and can now offer our pioneering programme to children aged 3-16 years living in over 70% of local authorities across Scotland.
If you have concerns about a young person's behaviour towards animals, please contact us to make a referral.
Already read the booklet? Download just the consent forms here: