Humane Education at a Glance

Humane education is a form of character education that stresses the importance of respect, compassion, and responsibility in our treatment of all animals and their habitats. Hardly a new concept, humane education was introduced to American schoolchildren on a broad scale in the late nineteenth century by George Angell, the founder of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Angell was responsible for the widespread distribution of humane storybooks to public schools, including Anna Sewell’s famous Black Beauty, 3 million copies of which had been circulated by 1909. In 1882, he began the formation of “Bands of Mercy,” groups of students and teachers who pledged kindness to animals and engaged in activities to prevent cruelty. By 1916, an estimated 103,000 Bands of Mercy had been formed.

Today, the primary sources of humane education activity in the United States continue to be local animal shelters and other humane agencies, often working in partnership with schools and supported by national organizations such as Humane Society Youth. Although humane education methodologies vary—they include animal shelter tours, classroom visits, after-school activities, summer camps, junior volunteer programs, and the distribution of lesson plans and other materials for the classroom—a central theme links all of these: the belief that just as helping children develop good character is an integral part of their education, treating animals responsibly and humanely is an essential part of good character.