study on implementation of animal welfare education in romania

Asociaţia pentru protecţa animalelor

Milioane de Prieteni Adresa: Brasov; Str. Rovine Nr.5, Brasov,

Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Study on the implementation of

Animal Welfare Education in Romania

Brasov, October 2013 – June 2014

Study, classes, and volunteering conducted by AMP (Millions of Friends Association) in

partnership with the Brasov County School Inspectorate and Brasov Municipality with

the purpose of developing the first manual for animal welfare and protection in

Romania

Liviu Cioineag – project manager



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Introduction

About AMP

The Association for the Protection of Animals ”Millions of Friends” in Brasov was

the first NGO in Romania and is the most experienced, with an 18 year history of

advocacy for animal welfare. Founded by former journalist Cristina Lapis, AMP has

gathered over 50 specialists and employees qualified in wild and domestic animal

rescues, animal care, emergency interventions, mass sterilization for stray animals,

education, awareness, and public campaigns. For more than 15 years AMP has

managed a shelter for 500 stray dogs as well as the most successful animal welfare

project in Romania — Libearty Bear Sanctuary — Europe s largest brown bear

facility.

Animal welfare — Legal context

Interest in animal welfare and animal rights protection in Romania has grown in

recent years; also, the facilities and the services offered by NGOs have gotten better.

Improvements in the legal environment and the creation of new laws have permitted

the rescue of captive bears and improved conditions of care and nursing in some zoos,

for example.(L13/1993 and L204/2005 completed with 9/2008).

But the real change for one of the biggest problems in Romania was the adoption of

Law 258/2014, which established conditions for managing the stray dog population.

The best thing about this law is that it requires mandatory neutering and

microchipping for all dogs — with or without owners.

Brasov — an example for animal welfare activism

As a part of the strategy to reduce the

number of stray dogs, AMP has counted

the number of stray dogs in Brasov. In

accordance with Law 258/2014, every

competent authority in Romania has to

count the number of stray dogs, but our

information indicates that no animal

administrative service has done so. In April

2014, after two weeks of observation, we

had counted an average of 350 dogs in

Brasov. Locations and numbers of dogs are

shown on the map.

Fig 1: AMP map of stray dogs

Persistent animal welfare problems in Romania



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Stray dogs and human-bear conflicts — results of the lack of education

For more than 20 years, stray dogs, human-bear conflicts, captive bears, poorly

managed zoos, and abuses against farm animals were fairly common in Romania and

were neglected by public opinion, as the post-communist economic and political

climate always provided the excuse that there were ”more important” problems to

solve. The lack of education postponed the initiation of mass action in the field of

animal rights and welfare and prolonged the effects of this unpleasant phenomenon,

leading to pain, suffering, and privation of animals.

Fig 2: AMP billboard for campaigning

There are two major conflicts in animal protection that persist in affecting the

perception of animals in Romania. The first is the issue of stray dogs, one of the sad

symbols of Romania in the international press. As Romania’s first animal protection

NGO, AMP started to tackle this problem in Brasov 15 years ago; now there are over

30 animal organizations and more than 20 dog shelters all over Romania. Nobody has

accurate statistics on the number of the stray dogs in Romania, but the number

generally accepted is over one million. The cruel actions taken by many local

authorities, the poor conditions for dogs in public shelters, and the lack of neutering,

microchipping and counting of pets and stray animals have maintained and prolonged

the phenomenon of stray dogs, decreasing the effects of the neutering campaigns and

international adoptions made by several welfare NGOs, including AMP. AMP

believes that the long-term solution must combine counting and registering pets,



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

sterilizing all stray and pet dogs, and microchipping and tagging. For all this to

happen, it’s critical to educate children so they can understand why these actions

is needed.

The second major issue is the human-bear conflict. With an official number of 6005

wild bears (results from a study conducted by the Ministry of Environment in 2011),

Romania has the largest bear population in Europe. While the population has

decreased from at least 8,000 in 1989 to a real unofficial estimation of 4,000 in 2010,

the number of incidents and accidents are increasing each year. Public authorities face

two deaths and at least four injuries annually, while the number of bear encounters are

in the hundreds. While the shrinking of their natural habitats by mass deforestation

and the harvesting of mushrooms and forest fruits are pushing them towards human

locations, trophy hunting and artificial feeding with industrialized food (by tourists,

restaurants and rangers) in the forest has increased the birth rate and the number of

cubs per birth. Understanding these things and how to avoid encountering a bear in

the forest will lead to a decreasing number of incidents and accidents. This way, fewer

bears will be killed for the protection of people.

Objectives of the study

During the 2013/2014 school year, AMP conducted the first study on animal welfare

in the Romanian schools. The aim of the study was to quantify the need for animal

education in the school population. The main objective was to understand how many

children have animals or want animals, and whether they understand the need for

microchipping, pet tagging, and neutering. The AMP education team focused on

establishing the level of knowledge and interest in the 10- to 14-year-old school

population.

Objective Method

Determining the level of implication (number of pets or

farm animals/child)

Statistics/questionnaires

Determining the level of responsibility (microchipping,

neutering)

Statistics/questionnaires

Determining the level of interest Direct observation,

volunteering

Determining the level of knowledge Direct observation/Q&A

during classes

To collect data and measure the objectives, we used a questionnaire.



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Fig 3. Image of survey used to gather data (owned animals, visited sites, etc)

Class preparations

In October 2013, the Association for the Protection of Animals ”Millions of Friends”

established a partnership with the Brasov County School Inspectorate and the Mayor

of Brasov to implement the first courses in animal welfare education in schools. The

interest shown by the authorities was reflected in the number of schools that supported

our initiative and offered us the opportunity to work with children. Seventeen middle

schools (called “general school” in the Romanian educational system) were chosen to

introduce one course per week to children. Soon, the AMP team was brought back to

spend more hours in different classes at the same school.

After a short calibration, the team realized that the most receptive children are the 5th

and 6th graders, aged 12 to 13 years. They are old enough to understand humananimal

interactions and to be responsible, but not old enough to develop teenage attitudes.

Completing a survey ( sixth - grade class at School nr 6

” Iacob Muresianu” )



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Lessons structure

Many kids were encountering these subjects for the first time, so the lesson structure had to

be light but comprehensive, covering the current reality in Romania. It was developed as an

open interactive course, based on the childrens’ existing knowledge of animal issues

5 min Introduction Short briefing on AMP and its facilities

5 min

Definition and short history of animals

Anima concept, first domestic animals

Human-animal interaction

Pets Discussion about their pets

10 min

Human-bear

interaction

Aspects: bear population

Hunting and poaching

Forest fruit harvesting

Logging of forest, tourism

Human-bear conflicts, orphaned bears,

zoos and circuses Bear taming

Bears at Libearty Sanctuary short movie presentation

15

min

Stray dogs

Owned dog, stray dog — wild dog

The stray dog cycle in town

Dog reproduction

Neutering and microchipping

Responsibility

5 min

Farm animals

Impressions of their grandparents’ farm Presentation of Farmland website

www.farmland-thegame.eu

5 min Conclusions Completing a survey

Fig. 4: Topic distribution for a 45-minute lesson

http://www.farmland-thegame.eu/






Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Study specimen (sample)

The study was conducted by AMP’s education team from October 2013 to May

2014. During this period, team members visited 14 schools in Brasov, held 16

courses, and reached 424 children in grades 5 through 8. (In Romania, secondary education is based on four years of learning (grades V–VIII) and includes children from 11 to 14 years old. This form of education is mandatory with a daily program. This level culminates in promotion based on a National Test Certificate.)

0

The 7th and 8th grades acted as a control class against which to compare the level of

interest in animal welfare among 5th and 6th graders. After their first visits to schools,

team members realized that the level of interest among 7th and 8th grade students

was fairly low, so it didn’t make sense to continue visits at these grade levels.

Control class Grades/Clase Cls V Cls VI Cls VII Cls VIII Total

gimnaziu NR Elevi chestionati/ nr of children that

filled the questionary 15 23 38

For our study, we distributed 409 questionnaires to 5th and 6th graders.

Of the 409 children that responded to our study, 205 were boys and 209 were girls.

Fig. 5 The parity between boys and girls population is almost 1/1

Grades/Clase Cls V Cls VI Cls VII Cls VIII Total

gimnaziu Total nr of children Brasov City 1773 1765 - - 3898

Nr of responders 264 145 - - 409

Responders/School population 14,8% 8,2% - 10.49%



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Conclusions

The total population of second level education in the town of Brasov is 7, 481,* while the population relevant for our study was the 5th and 6th grade population of 3,898 children. The team reached 424 children representing 10.87 % of the target, but 409 (10.49%) were relevant to our research.

Interest by age

59% of the children who participated in the study were 11–12 years old, and 33% were 12–13

years old. The control group represents just 8% of participants, who were teenagers of 14–15

years. Their interest in animal welfare was very low. The interest shown by teachers was

high, and some of them asked repeatedly that the welfare class be held for other children in

the school.

Fig. 6: Chart — percentage of students in study by age

*according to 2011 statistics provided by The National Institute of Statistics in Romania

Grade 5 6 7 8

TOTAL Age 11 years 12 years 13 years 14 years

No. of children 264

145

15

23 447

years 11 59 %

years 12 33 %

13 years % 3

14 years % 5

years 11

12 years

13 years

14 years



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Observed general behavior:

• In each class, 4–5 kids (20–25%) are more active than the others.

• At least 10% (usually 2 or 3 kids) have advanced knowledge of wildlife and

domestic animals; usually they better understand the interaction between

humans and animals and are always willing to share answers or to tell stories.

• 50–60% of the class is prone to give answers repeatedly.

• The rest remaining 20–25% are usually less talkative, being shy or introverted.

Animal Welfare at a 5th grade class from School nr 3

Animal lovers and animal owners

The questions addressed to children as animal owners revealed a big surprise. The children

were asked if they have one or more animals and, if so, what kind.

Fig 5: Chart representing the number of animals and their classification

76

183

38 13 11 14 0

20 40 60 80

100 120 140 160 180 200

cats dogs birds gnawers reptiles fish

Owned animals



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Of the total of 409 students, 335 have at least one animal — more than 81%. Almost

26.1% have two animals, and almost 10% have even more. It was no surprise that the

majority owns a dog; cats are their second choice, followed by birds. Reptiles were the

least owned animals.

Kids watching a presentation at School nr 2 „Diaconu Coresi”

A direct connection between owning an animal and paying attention in the class was detected:

the children who had an animal were more talkative, gave better answers, and were

more knowledgeable.

Neutering and microchipping

Special emphasis was given to responsible behaviour as a solution to reduce the number

of stray dogs. The kids had to follow a logical path that led them through the cycle of stray

dogs, starting with owners who throw puppies in the streets, who leave dogs unattended, or

who get rid of old dogs. They understood how prolific a female dog is and that the number of

stray animals will increase if every one of us doesn't take action. In this case, the only

solution is neutering.

Also, they understood the importance of the microchip when it comes to finding a lost pet.

But when it comes to facts, the statistics are not very good: only 102 kids have a spayed or

neutered animal. That is a little more than a third (39.3%) of the total of dogs and cats

owned by the children. No question about it, the kids are not directly responsible for

neutering their pets, their parents are. Though the lack of education and misconceptions about



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the effects of sterilization on animals play an important role. As expected, the number of

microchipped animals is even lower, less than 10%.

Helping animals

When it came to responsibility, most of the kids who had an animal were the ones who shared

more feelings about stray animals. Asked if they had helped an animal in need, 286 kids

(70%) answered positively. The majority shared their story of heroism, which usually

involved feeding a hungry and sad dog, or improvising a shelter for an animal. In some

cases, the child took the dog home but it ended up on the same streets because the parents

weren't consulted and hadn’t agreed to have a pet. Though we expected answers along these

lines, we found some examples of real heroism: dogs being rescued from rivers after their

owner tried to drown them, a stray dog taken to a vet after a car accident, etc. For a

twelveyear-old, this means something!

Visiting animal sites — farm, zoos, reservations, and shelters

When it comes to spending time on a farm or at a wild animal park, children show a

real interest. Due to widespread industrialization in the 70s, when youths were brought from

villages to work in towns, nowadays kids still have grandparents in the countryside. It's no

surprise that more than 66% of the children have visited a farm before. They gladly talked

about horses, cows, chickens, and all the other animals that they helped to care for and feed.

In greater numbers, children have visited zoos. Most of them reviewed the experience as

positive, despite the poor conditions still existing in Romanian zoos. This can be

attributed to the fact that neither parents nor teachers can distinguish between a happy

and a sad animal, or recognize the needs of animals in captivity, even if sometimes it is

obvious. Labelling such an experience as positive creates a false impression in children’s

mind – the impression that animal don’t need or deserve better conditions. This positive

impression somethimes apply, as there are zoos that have managed to create better conditions

for animals. Fewer visits were made to wildlife reservations, but probably because there are

just a few in Romania. Animal shelters were the least visited places but are the ones that

need the most attention from visitors.



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Volunteering at local public dog shelter

March 2014 was Volunteer Month for AMP. More than 40 students from four schools

engaged in activities at Stupini Dog Shelter. Every Saturday for four weeks, kids came to the

shelter to learn and work. During the session, they learned how to approach a dog and gain its

confidence, and they learned about the differences between pets and shelter dogs, etc.

Kids brushing and petting dogs at Brasov’s public shelter

Activities consisted of putting on the leash and taking the dogs for a walk, and learning how

to brush, feed, and play with the stray dogs. More than 10 children from the whole group

became faithful volunteers who came to every session, more than three times. Each child had

bonded with a particular dog, giving him a name and asking to walk and play only with him.

They described the whole experience as really nice, and they asked their parents to let them

adopt their favourite dog. In none of the cases did the parents accept.

At the end of Volunteer Month, the children received a diploma that acknowledges their work

and dedication.

Volunteering



Romania, 500075 Telefon: +40 (268) 471202

Credits:

AMP education team:

Dan Dusa, Paula Ciotlos – assistants

Photos: Liviu Cioineag, Dan Dusa

study on implementation of animal welfare education in romania

Documents