These days, the culling of dogs and cats that end up at the local shelters has become a huge issue of the society in Japan. To solve this issue and reduce the number of the abandoned animals, we all need understand that the biggest cause of the issue is the over population of stray dogs and cats, but we also need to face the cycle of mass production, mass consumption and mass waste in pet industry.
We, as Pawer., believe that education is the key to solve this issue and make it a better society for both humen and animals. We run education programs designed for kindergartens to universities, and there are 3 types of models depends on the objectives.
The class of Dignity
We design our education programs to make them appropriate for the age of the students. In our class, they get the opportunities to learn the followings:
biology of dogs and cats, the essencial needs to own a dog/cat, how dogs/cats feel, the responsible ownership, the reality of rescued/abandoned animals, pet industries, puppy mills, over population of the strays, what each of us can do to make a change, and so on. We don’t tell the students what to do or not to do, however, instead we provide the information of the reality and stories from different sides then make them think what they think is right to do. This way, we hope that they’ll be able to think and decide by themselves each time something related to animal welfare comes up in their lives.
Model
Objectives：age of 3-11, up to 80 children
Duration：30 minutes to 1 hour
How：a class（materials: origami, board, songs, crafts,
PowerPoint presentation, reading storytelling to kids）
Content：dignity of life (human, animals, and insects)
Handout：(for kids) origami, dog stickers
(for guardians) leaflets, news letters
Model 2
Objectives：age of 13-22
Duration：30 minutes to 1 hour
How：a class/speech（PowerPoint presentation）
Content：animal welfare issues, how to get involved
Handout：news letters, cards, leaflets
Model 3
Objectives：young adults
Duration：may vary
How：speech, talk, PowerPoint presentation
Content：animal welfare issues, how to get involved
Handout：news letters, cards, leaflets
The purpose of Pawer. Educational Program:
・Introduce children and young adults to dignity of life and animal welfare issues
↓（and this would be the opportunity to…）
・Raise the awareness of animal welfare, its issues, & how to get involved
↓（and that helps individuals to understand and take actions to make a change…）
・Make our society better for both human and animals