Assessment of the Impact of an Animal Welfare Educational Course with First Grade Children in Rural Schools in the State of Morelos, Mexico

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if an educational package used for animal welfare teaching would have significant effects on the knowledge of first grade children in a rural area of Mexico. The research was conducted with 276 students in six public schools. In the experimental group, 177 children participated in a 10 week-long animal welfare education program that covered ten one-hour animal welfare topics. The control group, consisting of 99 children, did not receive the course. There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) between pretests of the experimental and control schools (ANOVA). However, a significant effect of the program on the children’s knowledge was found when the results of the posttest were analyzed using the pretest as a covariate (ANCOVA). Furthermore, the correct responses of the children exposed to the Animal Welfare program were on average 78% richer in concepts compared to responses from children in the control group. These results contribute to the growing body of research literature on the relationship between children and animals in humane education, suggesting that first grade children living in moderate economic conditions can assimilate animal welfare concepts.