YAKIMA, Wash.-PETA is offering to provide kindness-to-animals materials to the Yakima School District after a string of animal abuse and deaths over the past year.
TeachKind, PETA’s humane education division sent a letter to Yakima School District Superintendent Trevor Greene a letter on Dec. 11 offering to provide the materials in both English and Spanish after two more dogs were found abused in November.
“TeachKind is urging Superintendent Greene to incorporate these free materials into Yakima schools’ curricula so children can learn the importance of empathy toward all sentient beings, and we urge everyone, no matter their age, to report abuse when they see it,” said PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg.
According to PETA, between March and May, five dogs in Yakima County were found dead and showed signs of abuse and one of the dogs found in November died from its injuries.
PETA’s kindness-to-animals materials are geared toward children and highlight the need for empathy training early in life through a collection of children’s books, according to a press release from PETA.
Research shows that approximately 43% of school shooters first committed acts of cruelty against animals, according to the Sandy Hook Promise, which includes cruelty to animals on its “10 Critical Warning Signs of Violence” list.
“Children who learn empathy grow into kind and compassionate adults, but whoever is abusing and killing these dogs clearly never received humane education as a child,” said Holmberg.
