Ghazi, M.; Huhne, D.; Turner, J.

  Fifth International Colloquium on Working Equines. The future for working
  equines. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 October-2 November, 2006.. 2007.
  383-392.

 SPANA has had an educational programme, working with Jordanian schools and the Ministry of Education, since 1993, and has supported School Animal Clubs since the 1990s. The overall aims of the education programme are to encourage a sense of responsibility towards animals and the environment; to overcome ignorance and fear of animals; to increase awareness of the importance of the relationship between humans and animals and of the importance of animals as sources of income and livelihood; and hence to improve the level of care for all animals. To develop children's empathy and confidence with animals, it is important for them to have the opportunity to observe, touch and handle animals, under expert supervision. To provide this opportunity more widely for schools, SPANA opened its Educational Animal Centre in Amman in 2003, housing animals such as donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and guinea, pigs that had been accustomed to human contact. In 2005, over 5,500 school students from the age of nine years upward visited the Centre, from 200 schools. Donkeys are widely used by Jordanian farmers, but the impression of donkeys is generally rather poor. In order to assess how visits to the Centre influence the students' attitudes to donkeys, 80 visiting student ere asked to complete questionnaires before and after their visits. An additional 23 students who did not visit the Centre also completed the questionnaires. The survey showed that the students' perceptions of donkeys were significantly more positive after the visits than before, in relation to their view of donkeys as likeable, clean eautiful, intelligent, nice to touch or stroke, and enjoying being stroked by people, and that the students believed that their visits had increased their knowledge about donkeys. The non-visiting students generally had less positive perceptions of donkeys. These findings indicate that school visits to the Educational Animal Centre improve students' understanding of donkeys and increase positive attitudes towards these animals.

Bishop, Gail A.  Long, Christie C.  Carlsten, Kelly S.  Kennedy, Katie C.  Shaw, Jane R.pethosp@colostate.edu

Journal of Veterinary Medical Education.  35(4):525-31, 2008.  

While the concept of hospice care for humans has existed for decades and is an integral part of the dying process, providing hospice care for companion animals is a new and growing service. Veterinarians and pet-owners have recently recognized that there is a need and a demand to care for pets with terminal illnesses. The Colorado State University Pet Hospice program meets those needs through supporting pets, their owners, and veterinarians, and educating professional veterinary students in end-of-life care. Developed in 2003, Pet Hospice is a student-run program that trains veterinary students in animal hospice care, and matches them with the family and veterinarian of a terminally ill pet in the community. Since its inception, 101 veterinary student volunteers have been trained and provided support to 68 families. Continued expansion of the client base, enlargement of the network of veterinarians and volunteers, and positive program evaluations reflect the strong impact of Pet Hospice and its support from veterinary students, veterinarians, and the community.

Morven G. McEachern

Lancaster University Management School, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK

Monika J.A. Schro¨der and Joyce Willock

Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, UK

Jeryl Whitelock

University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

Roger Mason

University of Salford, Salford, UK

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to explore ethical purchasing behaviours and attitudes, relating to the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

 Kelly L. Thompson ; Associate Professor Eleonora Gullone 

Australian Psychologist, Volume 38, Issue 3 November 2003 , pages 175 - 182

 Signal, Tania D.; Taylor, Nicola

 Anthrozoos:20, 2, June 2007 , pp. 125-130(6)

 Although a number of studies have examined a range of demographic and personality variables that may impact upon attitudes towards the treatment of non-human species, little consensus has been reached within the literature. The aim of the current study was to evaluate and assess levels of human-directed empathy and attitudes towards the treatment of animals in two diverse populations, namely the general community (n = 543) and those within the animal protection field (n = 389). Both groups of participants completed the Attitude Towards the Treatment of Animals Scale (AAS) and the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a measure of human-directed empathy. Comparisons between the two samples indicated that those within the animal protection community scored more highly on both the animal attitude and human-directed empathy measures. Correlational analyses revealed a positive relation between AAS and IRI scores for both samples, whilst the strength of the correlation was greater for those within the animal protection sample. These findings are discussed.

Frank R. Ascione, Ph.D. and Claudia V Weber, M.S.

ABSTRACT
This study assessed the maintenance of the effect of a year-long school-based humane education program on fourth grade children's attitudes toward animals. Generalization to human-directed empathy was also measured. Using a pretestposttest (Year 1) follow-up (Year 2) design and ANCOVA, we found that the experimental group (children who experienced the program) humane attitudes mean was greater than the control group mean at initial posttesting and at the Year 2 follow up. At both Year 1 and Year 2 posttesting, the enhancement of attitudes toward animals generalized to human-directed empathy, especially when the quality of the children's relations with their pets was considered as a couariate.

The results contribute to the growing literature on the significance of the relations between children and animals, and serve to encourage humane education efforts.

Arluke, A.

Anthrozoos. 2003. 16: 1, 3-27.

The present study examined how strong humane inclinations in children are shaped and encouraged through interactions with human and non-human animals. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 30 supernurturing children and 30 parents attending a pre-veterinary summer camp operated by an American university. Themes associated with supernurturance included validating the importance of animals, teaching nurturance, identifying as an animal person, seeing animals as helpers, and assuming responsibility. Results suggest that a single magic bullet cannot be tweaked to instill or heighten compassion for animals. Rather, an array of social psychological factors together contribute to animal supernurturing by children.