SCHOOLS in the Buckie area are being given the chance to enter an inaugural film contest to help spread the anti-animal cruelty message. Behind the venture is the Scottish SPCA. Scotland’s animal welfare charity visits schools every year to deliver their free Prevention through Education programme, encouraging pupils to become responsible animal citizens. The programme links in with many areas of the curriculum for excellence and aims to encourage empathy and compassion towards animals among, not just those participating and their audiences.
Primary and secondary schools have been invited to submit a short film that educates the public, and in particular their peers, on key animal welfare issues that the Scottish SPCA regularly have to tackle. The judging panel will be looking for innovative and creative methods of conveying a key message to the public, in particular to other school students. Scottish SPCA head of education and policy, Gilly Mendes Ferreira, said, “Since 2010 we have seen over 300 per cent increase in the number of calls where children have alerted us to animals in need of our help, which saved injured wildlife and uncovered cases of neglect. “We are thrilled to be launching this competition for both primary and secondary schools and hope that this continues to encourage children and young adults to be #AlwaysAnimalAware.” The topics, consent forms, terms and conditions, closing date for submissions and more information regarding the 2019 schools film competition can be found on the Scottish SPCA website at scottishspca.org/ education/ The winning films will be announced in June.