High School
Many students of high school age are ready to take on advocacy issues. A good place to start is with the urgency to relieve animal overpopulation by spay and neuter. Talk about the mathematics first; they are always a real eye-opener to the extent of the problem, and visually show how a local problem can have global impact. (As a refresher, one female cat and her offspring can be responsible for 100 to 400 kittens born in just seven years.) Here are some other activities, along with links with discussion topics that can be adopted for your area:
- Schedule a trip to a shelter for a first-hand view of homeless pets. (School and parental permission are necessary.) On a later day, discuss what you saw and talk about what students can do to help. Problem Solving: Ending Pet Overpopulation ; a program created by the Denver Dumb Animal League for local schools. (PDF Format)
- 10 Ways You Can Help Pet Overpopulation (Also from DDAL)
- "Understanding Animal Cruelty" is published by NAHEE, the educational division of HSUS. For $3.00, you can review it for possible material for a high school audience.
What Can Kids Do?
- Hold fund-raisers (bake sales, car washes, sock dances, etc.) to raise money to donate to shelters and rescue groups.
- Talk to your shelter and local supermarkets about a pet food collection area for donation to local shelters (shoppers buy pet food to donate and the store sets it aside for collection.)The students can pick up and deliver the food on a regular basis.
- Kids of almost any age can make "Catnip Mice" for donating to shelters and rescue groups. Or sell them at a craft fair and donate the proceeds.
- Home Ec students can put together small "snugglers" for lining cages.
We've started with a few ways you can help kids make a difference in our world. You no doubt will think of more. Send along your ideas with the Submit a Cats Tip form, and I'll post the best ones in this section. Use "Kids and Cats" as the subject, so it will get my attention. --
Acknowledgements:
Huge thanks to CATSRME2 for link-chasing, and to her and other forum members for ideas on educating young people "to the cause." Thanks also to the forum members who sent photos of their kids with cats for this article and the accompanying photo spread. ( All photos are used with permission of their owners.)
