Humane Education

Education is an essential part of the SPCA’s mission. The SPCA Serving Erie County offers interactive, engaging experiences for students in pre-K through high school and even college. Programs are tailored to the audience’s age level and interests and are available to groups of any kind, including schools, homeschool groups, early childhood groups, and community organizations.

Comprehensive humane education programming, when provided to children and communities consistently over multiple years, has been shown to address a variety of pressing social and educational issues. It has tremendous potential for long-term improvements in the health of human and non-human animals in our community. Not only does humane education improve the treatment of animals by teaching proper care of and safety around pets, but it also improves the human participants’ lives with potential benefits ranging from decreased incidence of depression and anxiety to increased sociability, teamwork, and compassion.

Offsite Programs

Encouraging Kind Kids (EKK)
EKK is an offsite classroom program that is offered to all schools in Erie County in grades pre-K through 12th grade. The goals of EKK align with New York State Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks, Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework, and Next Generation Learning Standards in ELA, Math, and Science. Learner-centered activities are designed to promote compassion, social-emotional learning, and kindness toward all living things.

Promoting Animal Welfare (PAW) Protectors (available in-school and after school)
PAW Protectors enhances social-emotional skills by teaching about pet body language and practicing self-regulation skills to stay safe around animals. The program is offered as a series of 5, 45-minute sessions with an optional virtual tour of the SPCA Serving Erie County and the opportunity to meet an animal ambassador. Each student receives a backpack of materials for hands-on, minds-on learning and participation.

Available topics:
-Introduction to Animal Care (K-3rd grades)
-Animal Behavior (4th-6th grades)
-Introductory Veterinary Medicine (6th-8th grades)

After-School Programming 

After-school programs promote compassion and kindness towards all living things with fun, activity-oriented programs. Each visit will feature a different SEL or STEAM-related topic, offering students engaging service projects, play-based learning, useful resources, and hands-on animal interaction. Single and multi-week visits are available.

Onsite Programs 

Field Trips
Field trips consist of a 30-45 minute classroom lesson including an activity and animal encounter, followed by a guided shelter tour to see adoptable pets, the wildlife department, and the educational farm. Field trips are offered for pre-K through 12th grades (90 minutes long) during open shelter hours with up to two classes per date/time.

Middle and High School Career Intensive Workshops

Each half-day field trip can accommodate no more than 20 students because of the hands-on nature of this experience. Sample activities include animal interactions, first-hand observations, experiments, model-making, guest speakers, and experience with tools of the trade. 101 workshops include a tour of the facility including the adoptable pets and the educational farm. 102 workshops may include behind-the-scenes experiences in our wildlife rehabilitation department or veterinary hospital. All highlight relevant careers and include information on local college higher education opportunities.

Participants in 102 level intensives must have completed the associated 101 workshop or be in at least 8th grade.

-Animal Rescue 101 and 102
-Animal Behavior and Training 101 and 102
-Veterinary Medicine 101 and 102
-Exotic Pet Care 101
-WNY Wildlife 102

Homeschool Workshops

Homeschool families have the unique opportunity to delve into the world of animal welfare via interactive lessons and hands-on STEM projects that strengthen the human-animal bond and promote career exploration.

For information on the above, please contact the Humane Education Department at (716) 875-7360, ext. 234, or HumaneEducation@yourspca.org.

Form your own animal club.
Complete service learning projects.
Fundraising projects.

These are all ways children and adults can help the animals at the SPCA Serving Erie County!

The SPCA relies on the generous support of our community. We receive hundreds of inquires annually about how troops, schools, groups, individuals, or agencies can help the SPCA.

If you or your child are interested in holding a fundraiser to support the SPCA, please find more information and fundraising packets for children and adults here.

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Let the SPCA Serving Erie County come to you! Representatives of the SPCA can visit your business, organization, club, retirement home, etc. to teach participants about animal-related topics. We offer several different presentation lengths and can accommodate groups of all sizes. For more information on the topics we offer, please contact the Humane Education Department at
(716) 875-7360, ext. 234, or HumaneEducation@yourspca.org.

If you believe in the important message of humane education and are interested in sponsoring or supporting one of these programs, please call SPCA Director of Community Education Christine Davis at 716-875-7360, ext. 262.