Please read this important post about teaching kids to be kind to animals written exclusively for RaisingVegKids.com by Ingrid Newkirk, President and cofounder of PETA, the largest animal rights organization in the world.
Ingrid as a child
Guest post by Ingrid Newkirk, President and cofounder of PETA
When I was 8 years old, I left the English town where I grew up and headed off, with my parents, to India. My mother, who volunteered to help lepers, orphans, unwed mothers, and neglected animals, taught me to have empathy for all beings. "It doesn’t matter who suffers," she said, "but how."
One day, while I was sitting at the dining room table, I saw a bull outside, pulling a heavy cart, not an unusual sight in New Delhi. The bull stumbled and couldn't go any further. The cart driver raised his stick and beat the bull on the back, then lifted the bull's tail and thrust the end of the stick into his rectum. The bull collapsed, and I ran outside to his defense, not thinking how small I was. My outrage at this injustice and cruelty fueled my steps. I wrenched the stick from the man's hand and was about to bash
him with it when a servant from a nearby property, who had come running after me, held back my hand. It was the first in a long line of instances when my passion to protect animals from needless pain was ignited.
him with it when a servant from a nearby property, who had come running after me, held back my hand. It was the first in a long line of instances when my passion to protect animals from needless pain was ignited.
Now, as president and cofounder of PETA, the largest animal rights organization in the world, I strive to teach others to treat animals with the same compassion and respect that they wish to be shown. As I wrote in my book, 50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals, "Animals have feelings, just as you and I do. … [A]ll animals, from the familydog to the tiniest mouse are like us―living, feeling beings. We can learn more about how animals experience life by trying to better understand their needs and
their feelings."
50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals is packed with fascinating animal facts, illustrations, jokes, puzzles, and fun activities that teach children to think about and empathize with animals. Kids learn that they can help end animal suffering simply by eating healthy vegan foods, choosing cruelty-free products, wearing cool animal-friendly fashions, attending fun animal-free circuses, or supporting responsible animal shelters rather than pet stores.
their feelings."
50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals is packed with fascinating animal facts, illustrations, jokes, puzzles, and fun activities that teach children to think about and empathize with animals. Kids learn that they can help end animal suffering simply by eating healthy vegan foods, choosing cruelty-free products, wearing cool animal-friendly fashions, attending fun animal-free circuses, or supporting responsible animal shelters rather than pet stores.
It's important to teach children to be kind to animals. As George Angell the founder of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals explained, when he was asked why he didn't help children instead of animals, "I am working at
the roots. If you teach a child to be kind to a caterpillar, you do as much for the child as you do for the caterpillar."
By teaching your children to have respect and compassion for all living beings, you can help create a more just and merciful world. PETAKids.com is also full of entertaining and educational tips, contests, and games that will help teach your child be kind to animals.
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