The SPCA has launched a nationwide education programme into primary and intermediate schools aiming to shape how the next generation of New Zealanders treat animals.
The organisation says the programme is one of the most important steps taken to reduce animal abuse in the SPCA's 127 year history.
"Each year
the SPCA cares for around 60,000 animals that have been lost, abandoned, injured, or abused. We recognised the need to do something that will have a real impact on bringing this number down by educating the next generation of animal owners," says the organisation's Chief Scientific Officer Dr Arnja Dale.
The SPCA has spent the past three years working with education leaders across the country aimed at creating behavioural change as well as fitting into the country's education curriculum.
