The Primary Years Programme  

The first programme is designed to accompany the educational concepts addressed during the primary years.  The programme can be adapted to suit the early years where children explore relationships in terms of the family – how we relate to each other, how we care for each other, and what our duties and responsibilities to each other might be. Pets, and especially dogs, are often an integral part of many families, and as such, we look at what the relationship of the family should be towards a pet - in terms of basic needs like food, water and shelter - to caring for a pet and fulfilling its secondary needs of hygiene, health care, exercise and training. 

The specific aim of the programme is to help children be aware that any pet that is part of the family has needs, and it is the responsibility of the family to care for these needs.

Although the programme is designed more specifically towards the area of family, it can easily be adapted to the more general area of Animals and animal welfare.

The Secondary Years Programme

The secondary years programme is closely related to the area of citizenship – which is a key area of many secondary educational programmes.  It looks at the problem of stray and abandoned animals within the wider context of society.  It asks questions such as: Why do people take on animals and then abandon them?  What can be done about stray and abandoned animals?  How can we change things so that this is no-longer a problem?.

The programme is designed to provoke thought.

The programme can be adapted to talk specifically about how we at the Strays of Abu Dhabi try to address these issues – as a real life example in action.  However, it can also be adapted to be more general and can be incorporated into projects generating social awareness, or to generate debates.

Animals can provoke strong emotions since many young people have had contact with animals from an early age.  Because this is a real issue in their own community rather than something more abstract, students may find it has more relevance to their lives.

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SAD Educational Visits