Victorian primary school students are to be able to continue learning about interacting safely and responsibly with pets, as Animal Welfare Victoria moves its Responsible Pet Ownership program online.
Minister for Agriculture, Jaclyn Symes said the move would ensure that lessons could continue for schools and students whilst ‘stay at home’ directions were in place.
“With most dog attacks involving children aged up to eight years old, and children currently spending more time at home with their pets, these safety messages are critically important,” Ms Symes said.
“The Responsible Pet Ownership program is normally delivered by trained pet educators and their dogs at primary schools and kindergartens to teach children how to safely interact with pets,” she said.
“In the absence of school visits, Animal Welfare Victoria has created an online learning hub for primary school teachers to help them deliver safety messages through activities that can be completed in class, at home and online.”
Ms Symes said the program focused on teaching children about basic dog behaviour, appropriate behaviour around dogs and what to do if approached by an unknown or aggressive dog.
“It features ‘Victor and Victoria’s Pet Town’ – an animated interactive tool for children based on the program’s safety messages,” she said.
“Children can also play games in ‘Pet Town’ with Victor the dog and Victoria the cat.”
She said a tablet version of the game had also been developed and was free to download from app stores.
Further information on the program can be accessed at this PS News link.
