RSPCA CARE program

What is the CARE program?
CARE stands for Creating Animal Respect and Empathy

The RSPCA’s CARE program is aimed at students who have recently arrived in Australia. This includes refugees and other migrants who have had to overcome huge obstacles towards resettlement and are often recovering from the effects of torture and trauma. They may also be experiencing loss, grief, depression and other emotional difficulties and their prospect for achieving a good quality of life relies on their ability to integrate into Australian society.

This program teaches these students about our society’s attitudes to animal welfare through safe interactions with well-mannered and calm RSPCA Education animals.
The CARE program:

increases student’s knowledge of animal welfare laws in Australia;
assists in the development of empathy towards animals; and
builds English language skills through engagement and interactions.

A series of four, one-hour incursions are run over a school term, keeping the students in their normal class groups and finishing with a three-hour excursion to the RSPCA Burwood East Animal Care Centre. Over the Program’s five sessions, a range of topics will be covered including:

how to approach a dog safely and behave around dogs;
how to interpret dog language and dog feelings, promoting empathy to animals and assisting with safety around dogs;
identifying dogs’ needs;
identifying small animals’ needs (with a focus on rabbits and guinea pigs); and
the role of the RSPCA through discussions regarding RSPCA Inspector cruelty cases.

Information

For more information please contact the program coordinator

P 03 9224 2286
E RSPCA Education & Learning