SPCA boosts youth outreach after spate of animal abuse cases

It was alerted to seven cases involving minors in 2022; it was one or none in previous two years

- Chin Hui Shan

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is enhancing its youth education programme to raise awareness of animal abuse among young people, in the light of a recent spate of animal cruelty cases.

It also made animal abuse a highlight of its annual youth engagement event SPCA's Pawsome Pawty on Saturday.

The education scheme, called the Youth Ambassador Programme, has drawn 375 ambassadors since it was launched in October 2022.

Besides attending educational programmes, these volunteers aged between seven and 16 - currently also help out at SPCA's Sungei Tengah animal shelter and come up with animal welfare campaigns to raise awareness.

To expand the programme, SPCA will organise a youth animal welfare symposium in October to allow those above the age of 16 to engage in meaningful discussions surrounding animal welfare advocacy issues.

Its expansion plans also include bringing experiential activities like virtual reality simulation to schools, field trips to other animal welfare organisations such as the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, and inviting students to pair up with an SPCA staff member or volunteer to host a talk at their school.

SPCA executive director Aarthi Sankar said the animal welfare group was alerted to seven animal abuse cases that involved minors in 2022. This is a "stark contrast" to the previous two years when there had been only one or no cases annually.

She added that SPCA also attended to 511 cases of animal cruelty and welfare issues in 2022, which is a 44 per cent increase from 2021 and the highest recorded figure since 2020.