About nine years ago almost to the day I wrote about the necessity of animal welfare being part of the school curriculum. I felt then as I do now that it is important that children are taught how to respect animals in general and perhaps in particular domestic cats and dogs because they are with them all the time. The cat and dog companion can become a great vehicle for training children on how to respect and interact with animals in general.
And I’m pleased that The Times reports today (4 September 2024) that French primary school pupils are to be given lessons to respect pets. I wonder if somebody in the French government read my article of nine years ago! I would like to think so.
I’ve actually written on this topic many times. The Times reports that “a new concept is on the curriculum for children [in France] age 6: respect for pets.”
Le Figaro reports that “The objective is to make young children aware that animals are not objects but really living beings”.
I am bit surprised to read that because children must know that animals are not objects but living beings. I suppose that the important lesson to learn is that animals are sentient beings not just living beings. This means that they are feeling animals. They can experience pain. They can experience contentment and unhappiness. And indeed, possibly other higher emotions.
For that reason they must be respected. The problem for a long time has been the law both in France and in the UK which has specified that companion animals are to be regarded as objects in terms of legalities and criminal behaviour. The law always lags behind societal changes. Although it can sometimes bring about societal changes.
This new conceptual move “comes amid conflicting trends in French society”. France apparently is facing a growing number of cruelty and animal abandonment cases. And only in 2015 were animals “designated as living beings in the eyes of French law”.
As in Britain, until then animals were regarded as “personal property”.
In 2021 there was further legislative reform regarding punishment for animal cruelty and abandonment. It was increased. And this law “also stipulated that animal well-being should be taught in school although the requirement was ignored by the education Ministry until last month” (The Times).
A document has been produced by the French authorities to ensure that their citizens understand that “the well-being of an animal is based on its capacity to feel emotions. A succession of negative emotions can lead to a state of discontent”. A clear reference to the sentience of animals and the need to ensure that the environment in which they live supports these emotions.
The document also insist that animals are individuals and it adds that “In the same situation, each animal is in a different state of well-being, depending on its character, its experience and the way it perceives that situation.”
Common sense stuff but it’s nice to see. It’s perhaps fair to say that even today many people don’t really understand that animals are individuals like people with their own character. It helps to realise that. It helps to respect them and it improves the human-animal relationship.
The French authorities’ document also informs its readers that sometimes being kind to an animal can be the wrong thing such as placing a coat over a cat or a dog. It may make the dog or cat to hot. I think this is a hint at allowing the animal to behave naturally and not to anthropomorphise (humanise) cats and dogs too much. We tend to do this and is not a bad thing normally because it means we are treating our cats and dogs as family members. This improves animal welfare. However, the underlying sentiment towards our cats and dogs should be of respect for their natural behaviours.
The head of campaigns at The Animal Law Foundation in France believes that children taught to respect animals were more likely to be well behaved in school. They said that “By understanding that animals have their own interests, pupils could develop compassion for them and apply it to other people”. She mentions that she was disappointed that “animal welfare was not on the secondary school curriculum as well”.
As mentioned above there’s been an increase in animal cruelty cases between 2016 and 2021 with a 30% rise in registered cases.
The police are unsure as to why it has happened. It may be because more witnesses are coming forward to report them.
Comment: it may also be because of social media which can promote animal cruelty. There are numerous instances of young people abusing cats and dogs while videoing their criminal behaviour at the same time and then uploading those videos to the Internet. It is bizarre and it does happen quite a lot. And TikTok has been accused of fostering animal abuse because remarkably animal abuse videos and images more popular among many people than pleasant animal videos and pictures. It’s an indictment on humankind’s attitudes.
I know this from years of running this website. It’s sad but true.
The French equivalent of the RSPCA say that it is in crisis “with shelters overcrowded and volunteers and employees worn out”.
The society took in over 44,000 animals last year representing a 1.5% rise from the year before. There’s been a concomitant 1.5% fall in adoptions from the shelters.
The managing director of the French RSPCA said that “We had a very bad summer. Our teams are in despair.”
The were concerned that hundreds of Belgian Shepherd dogs taken on by private security guards for the Paris Olympics would now be abandoned to shelters putting more pressure on them.
I sincerely hope that the concept of teaching primary school children and indeed secondary schoolchildren about animal welfare issues, animal husbandry and how to interact with companion animals expands across the world. It is much needed.
Nice article. Pleased the French are doing this.