“As children, we learnt respect for our elders and for
authority, we learnt etiquette too, but rarely was it suggested
that we extend any feelings towards animals, or indeed that animals
have feelings. And because of this, many children in Asia grow up
assuming animals exist to serve us, feed us, entertain us and
clothe us; animals are useful ‘moving objects’, a literal
translation of the Chinese word for animal.” - Pei Su
Pei Su is truly a pioneer. In the early 90s, she was involved
with the forming of Taiwan’s very first animal right’s
organization. 30 years later, it still exists and Taiwan’s animal
right’s movement is one of the fastest growing in Asia.
In 2011, Pei co-founded ACTAsia – an organization that’s
dedicated to creating change in China through humane education.
What that means is that they go into schools and train the teachers
to teach a 6-year program called Caring
for Life Education. The kids are in the program from ages 6 -12
and they learn animal welfare, empathy toward animals,
environmental issues, social welfare, and citizenship. To date,
80,000 kids have gone through Caring For Life and 2,000 teachers
have been trained. Pei believes that things won’t really change for
animals in China until people start to view them differently – and,
the best people for that job are the children – as they will create
change for generations to come.
About the Podcast
Stories that change the way the world treats animals.
