GSPCA rolls-out animal protection campaign
The Ghana Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (GSPCA), has initiated an education programme to engender a sense of public love towards animal welfare and protection in Ghana.
The Society, in a statement to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, said this new move of education that focuses first on school children, would add value to the public health education and particular the welfare and protection of animals.
Dubbed, “Humane Education programme”, the GSPCA has begun piloting the programme in four selected schools in the Madina and Kotobabi in the Greater Accra Region.
The schools are Trust Academy in the Adenta Municipality, Providence School in Kotobabi, Gospel Academy, and Action School, both at Madina in the La Nkwantanang Municipality.
The eight-week pilot project has one broad objective of imparting into pupils knowledge of animal welfare and kindness to animals. The eight-week course covers topics such as basic care for dogs, cats and basic care of farm animals,” Amasaba Abdul-Yakeen Aluizah, GSPCA Humane Educator/Communicator said in the statement he signed.
“There is a topic on how to handle donkeys which has for long been treated as a beast of burden. GSPCA on the other hand thinks the Donkey is a friend of mankind and should be treated humanely, and so should be other animals.”
As part of the training programme, the statement said the course instructors would teach kindness and health and also consider issues of zoonotics such as rabies.
It said GSPCA would educate the pupils to take the welfare and health of animals by giving veterinary attention, adding that each of the topics had practical lessons and exercise for pupils/students to test their skills and knowledge.
The statement said each school would have a focal person (teacher), who would be trained as mentors of the programme and would be given handbooks as help guide to teach the pupils.
The programme has targeted 20 pupils from each school to be trained and equipped with all the necessary materials.
The statement said so far the enthusiasm shown in the schools visited was encouraging, saying “in all schools the number of pupils exceeded the estimated number, in certain cases the number tripled the quota of pupils required for the project. This to GSPCA is indicative of overwhelming interest developed by pupils to know rudiments of animals who are part of their environment.”
GSPCA, established in April 2004, is a non-profit non-governmental organization that provides education and raises awareness about animals and provides care for needy animals.
Source: GNA