Volunteers wanted: sign up meow to join the Ontario SPCA’s AnimalSmart™ humane education team

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Volunteers wanted: sign up meow to join the Ontario SPCA’s AnimalSmart™ humane education team 

Stouffville, ON (Sept. 5, 2023) – As the kids head back to school, the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is recruiting volunteers to visit classrooms across the province with its AnimalSmart™ humane education program. 

The Ontario SPCA offers free AnimalSmart™ presentations for elementary grades in its animal centre communities, featuring themes centered around animal well-being and animal emotions. The goal is to foster empathy, promote responsibility and inspire a connection with animals. The program is expanding this fall, with new themes set to roll out, as well as presentations available in French.  

As a registered charity, the Ontario SPCA depends on the support of volunteers to make programs like AnimalSmart™ possible. In celebration of the Society`s 150th anniversary, the Ontario SPCA has set a goal to recruit 50 new volunteers this month. Volunteers don’t need to be teachers or have a background in education as they will receive one-on-one coaching, as well as in-classroom mentoring with an experienced educator.  

“We want people to treat animals with respect and kindness,” says Nina Alexander, Humane Education Manager, Ontario SPCA and Humane Society. “We believe in the power of education to inspire positive change and drive collective action towards a more compassionate future for animals.”  

If you’re passionate about animals, want to make a difference in your community and enjoy working with and inspiring children, visit animalsmart.ca to learn more about becoming a volunteer.   

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MEDIA CONTACTS   

Media Relations  
Ontario SPCA and Humane Society   
905-898-7122 x 375 
media@ontariospca.ca 

 The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society   

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity that has been changing the lives of animals for 150 years. The Society provides care, comfort and compassion to animals in need in communities across Ontario. It values all animals and advocates to treat them with respect and kindness. The Society strives to keep pets and families together and do so through a variety of community support services, such as sheltering and adoptions, including emergency sheltering, feral cat management programs, animal transfers, food distribution, humane education, animal advocacy, and spay/neuter services.  

The Ontario SPCA does not receive annual government funding and relies on donations to provide programs and services to help animals in need. To learn more, or to donate, visit ontariospca.ca. Charitable Business # 88969-1044-RR0002. 

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society Provincial Office sits on the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Mississaugas of Scugog, Hiawatha and Alderville First Nations and the Métis Nation. This territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. The treaties that were signed for this particular parcel of land are collectively referred to as the Williams Treaties of 1923.