For over 20 years the public opinion has neglected, the stray dogs, the conflicts between humans and bears, the captive bears, the poorly managed zoos and the abuses against farm animals that were quite common in Romania. The lack of education has postponed the start of a mass action in the field of animal protection and their welfare. AMP believes in the importance of education so that children can understand why such actions are needed.
During the school year 2013/2014, AMP has made the first educational program in the Romanian schools on animal welfare. The level of interest was huge from the behalf of children and teachers! In the Sanctuary, all tours are guided so that the visitors can understand the mistakes that people are making regarding the environment. Seeing the bears playing, eating and living a normal life, listening to their stories about the life they lived before arriving to the Sanctuary and watching the documentaries about rescue missions, children and people in general are changing their way of thinking about bears and other animals!
During the school year 2013/2014, AMP has conducted the first animal welfare lessons in schools in Romania. The main goal was to establish a certain level of knowledge and interest among pupils between the ages of 10 and 14 years, being considered that in these ages the interest in animal welfare is very high. After 7 months of study, we noticed that over 80% of children are interested in learning at school about the welfare and animal protection.
In the school year 2015-2016, AMP has launched a trial educational lecture at School no. 5 from Brasov. The lecture is called “Animal welfare and protection”. The pilot lecture was designed to include 17 lessons including also extra-curricular activities – visits to the sanctuary, zoos, farms, etc. This experience allows us to test other teaching tools – questionnaires, video lessons and meetings with a veterinarian.
