Santa Cruz SPCA’s Humane Education Program Focuses on the Next Generation

Compassion for Animals Reaches Over 5,000 Students Per Year

The Santa Cruz SPCA’s Humane Education Program is reaching over 5,000 of Santa Cruz County’s youth per year, over 75% of which are located in Watsonville and surrounding South County areas.

The Humane Education Program through the Santa Cruz SPCA is designed to teach today’s youth lessons of kindness, responsibility, compassion, and respect for animals and people alike. The kids of today are the companion animal guardians of tomorrow and in order to effectively curb issues like animal abuse, neglect, improper care practices, and over-population in the future we must help the youth understand how to make positive choices for their community now and for the rest of their lives.

Brenna Ewing, SPCA’s full-time Humane Educator and former board member of Unchained, an organization which focuses on teaching at-risk youth animal handling and training skills, has been working in Animal Welfare in the area for almost 20 years. Her work week is spent visiting classrooms all over Santa Cruz County giving age specific 30-60 minute interactive presentations on topics such as basic pet care, animal behavior and safety, the importance of spay/neuter, respect of livestock and wild animals, human and animal relationships, and society’s animal issues including feral cats, dog fighting, and the use of animals for such things as food, entertainment and experimentation.

“Our hope is to teach this next generation to view companion animals as family members that deserve to have their needs met just like any other member of the family. Maybe if they learn those lessons of empathy and responsibility now we may not have as much an influx of animals without homes in the future,” Ewing says. “Many times the idea of spaying and neutering is completely new to the kids, they tend to make the connection when they realize it can prevent more homeless animals. If they bring this information home to their families there is a chance a positive change can be made.”

Presentations on animal cruelty and overpopulation, animal careers and society’s use of animals are gaining popularity in Watsonville high schools. In south county elementary schools, there continues to be a focus on pet care and responsibility, and dog safety and kindness, both to animals and people. Ewing, with the help of a bilingual Humane Education Assistant, is able to give these presentations entirely in Spanish to ESL high school classes in the South County.

With plans for a new shelter on the horizon that will provide much needed space for program growth, Ewing envisions a similar in-house program aimed at building and strengthening the human animal bond for youth in the middle and high school age ranges. She hopes to extend our current summer camp, the proceeds of which help to fund the entire Humane Education Program each year, and also offer free after school programs and Spring/Winter break camps as well.

In order to carry out our mission of preventing cruelty to animals and promoting respect and reverence for all, a strong focus needs to remain on educating our youth. The Santa Cruz SPCA is committed to this ideal and plans to continue serving our whole community by offering this free and effective service.

Teachers and parents who are interested in incorporating Humane Education into their curriculum or youth group, can request a free presentation or more information by visiting the Humane Education section of our website www.spcasc.org, emailing our educator at Education@santacruzspca.org or calling Brenna Ewing directly at (831) 566-3753.

The Santa Cruz SPCA is a private, non-profit organization relying solely on donations from the generous public. The SPCA is located at 2685 Chanticleer Avenue in Santa Cruz and is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and both Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website at www.santacruzspca.org or call (831) 465-5000. The SPCA Adoption Center and Gift Shop located in the Capitola Mall near target is open Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and both Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.