The school year 2018-2019 came to an end at the end of May and we are proud of the results of our educational programme “The PAW of Friendship” this year.

In the past school year we conducted 644 lessons reaching out to 13,053 children.

Our programme consists of a series of sequential lessons where we discuss with children where stray animals come from, how to help them, how to prevent animals being abandoned, how to take good care of pet cats and dogs and how to be safe around them by learning their body language.

Apart from giving children valuable knowledge and skills how to be responsible pet owners, our lessons also give children a chance to think, feel and discuss how animals feel which develops much needed empathy.

We have formed long-term relationships with some schools and we welcome new schools to join our programme. Some children tell us how after our lessons they became more attentive to their pets by giving them an extra cuddle, taking them to a vet for a check up or taking them for a long walk.

Some children go a step further and pass on their knowledge to their peers, or they organise a food collection for a shelter we support and sometimes visit a shelter to give our four-legged friends attention and learn about their shelter life.

We are grateful to everyone who supports our work which enables us to run this and our other programmes and make a difference every day.

We strongly believe that education is key to preventing animal suffering in the future. Only through knowledge and empathy can attitudes change!