What they said about us...

We always want our participants to feel good, to learn something new in a fun way and gain as more experience as possible. This is what some of them wrote after the project finished.

I’m very happy that I’ve decided to participate in this project. I’ve got a lot of useful information. I’ve got to know a lot of new things about pet animal needs and most importantly rights in different countries. Also I’ve found out about carrier opportunities in animal welfare field in the UK, improved my English language skills and met a lot of interesting people and made new friends. The information was relevant and clearly presented and a lot of group exercises really helped with understanding it. I think that the project organization was also really good.

   Aušrinė

           In general it was very interesting and useful project for me, as I understand now, I didn't knew a lot of simply things about pets (about their needs, food, care and protection). So almost all discussions and presentations improved my knowledge about that.

Birute

           I really loved the presentations about animal welfare and animal protection. We have learnt a lot, and now I feel that I know much more about these topics. Also I hope that I have improved my English knowledge too. I really loved the traditional nights with the delicious foods (and I was very happy to see that almost everybody loved our food :)). I enjoyed to visit the shelter, it was very memorable for me. Also I really loved the breath-taking seaside. Yes, the project absolutely meet my expectations. I have learnt a lot about animal welfare and animal protection. I really loved the people, the place, the presentations and the beautiful seaside too.  

Flora

         I was the most interested about the animal shelter in Plymouth, and the mentality towards animals in England and other countries. I learnt a lot about cats and animal protection in other countries. I got to know the customs and foods/drinks of other nationalities. I enjoyed the city of Plymouth, the beautiful seashore and the island, animal shelter and the beautiful white dog, international nights with other nations’ food and drink. Yes, I’m glad that I could take part in this project.
                                                                                                                                                         Noemi

I decided to take part of this project, because it was the first time when I received the challenge to be a team leader and I totally enjoyed it. The most interested part of the project was regarding the way we should fead our pets (not everything we eat is also good for them). I had the opportunity to increased my knowledge about animal welfare too and British culture. I enjoyed orientation game, cultural nights, performance on animal welfare subject. The project had been a really good one. 

                         Dragonici Dana

I have been working as a volunteer for the Dog Shelter of Szekszárd for 2 years. I am interested in animal protection and I wanted to improve my English knowledge.I like meeting new people from foreign countries. It is interesting to get to know people from other countries, I can learn a lot about their culture.The project has met my expectations.I have studied a lot of new things about animal welfare, about other cultures and about English culture.

Adam Norbert Vesztergombi

Because I am a volunteer of the Dog Shelter and Szekszárd, and I rescue homeless cats and take care of them. I intended to know more about animal protection and I wanted to improve my basic English knowledge. At the same time I enjoy to meet people from other countries and the culture of foreign countries is very interesting for me.I have studied a lot about animal welfare, the legislation of other countries, about charity work and volunteering. I have learnt a lot of new English words, idioms and phrases.Yes, the project totally met my expectations.I really appreciated Svetlana’s efforts and the work of Amber Initiatives. I was really glad to participate in this valuable project.

Alexa Trumpek

 

Hungarian team (on the picture above), wrote a great article about project and their participation in it. They published it in local newspaper and can be also found on their organisation website. You can also read English translation on their website here.  

Day 10

Everything has to come to the end. And we finished our 10th and the last day of the project by completing final evaluations, receiving Youth pass certificates and by having closing ceremony with lots of farewell hugs and  pictures. 

 

Day 9

For the 9th day we came back to telling famous stories. Who are the pets on the portraits, which writers used their cats as inspiration, and who are famous cats in books?

 

         
The first book we talked about is Pets in Portraits written by Robin Gibson. The book explores images with the remarkable stories of the animals of some of history’s most notable figures that can be found in the National Portrait Gallery in London. From Jack, the pet swan of the world famous prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, to Dizzy, the beloved pug of one of history’s most controversial divorces, Wallace Simpson, the book is full of inspiring and fascinating stories on our faithful animal counterparts.

Have you heard about book A Street Cat Named Bob? This best-selling book tells a story of street musician James Bowen and his cat Bob. When he found an injured cat curled up in the hallway of his apartment building, he had no idea how much his life was about to change. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining that he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas...

Did you know that cats were popular pets of many famous writers? Ernest Hemingway and his cat Snowball. During the writer's travels, he was gifted a six-toed cat he named Snowball. He liked the cat so much that in 1931, when he moved into his Key West home, he let Snowball run wild, creating a small colony that populated the grounds. Today, some 40 to 50 six-toed descendants of Snowball are still allowed to roam around the house. Polydactyl felines are sometimes called “Hemingway Cats.”

 In the evening we participated in story telling activity where we had to role play different stories. The goal of the exercise was to show examples of the potential problems that appear in the families that have pets and how those problems can be constructively solved. One of the groups played a story when parents bring a puppy for the child, and the child does not treat it nicely. Parents had to teach child how to love a new pet and take care of it. The exercise was very interactive, and we had a lot of fun watching some of the participant meowing, barking and crawling around representing pets of the family.

Day 8

      Today we explored career opportunities in animal welfare. There are number of BA and MSc programs available for people interested in animal welfare such as, Training and Skills Development officer, Animal Welfare and Conservation and Animal Psychologists.

     

After coffee break, we played team building game. The goal of the game was to make us think about impact of having stray animals in the city and their effect on economy, society and environment. 

1. Participants were asked to pick a name of their partner from the box with cards, where the names are written, and each group receive a number (1,2 or 3). This number will be a group number.
2. Form a pair and seat in a circle with another two pairs with the same group number. Now each circle has 3 pairs. Each pair receive the card with a realm (Economy, Environment, Society). 
3. Each person has 3 minutes to formulate their answer to a question ‘What is the impact on local economy/economy/society of stray dogs and cats? The group can discuss the answer or ask additional questions. 
4. When time is over, each pair with similar realm gather together, discuss their finding and prepare a summary for the rest of the group.  

The activity helped us to realise that stray animals represent potential source of problems and have to be considered more seriously in some countries. The interesting fact is that it was easy to find negative outcomes of having stray animals, but it was much harder to find positive sides. 

The second part of the day was free time where we had an opportunity to explore Plymouth and most of us went to see the Plymouth Aquarium.

Day 7

Today we talked about volunteering in a local animal welfare organisation, education for children and using animals for therapy. A few participants already had great experience in volunteering or education for children, so during this session they shared their experience and thoughts with the group.  

After the coffee break, Dana, one of the participants from Romania, prepared a presentation about welfare education for children. Education for children is very important, because we often meet with kids who don't know how to act around animals, and sometimes, because of the lack of knowledge may cause them harm. 

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) wants animal welfare education (AWE), to become an integral part of formal curricula around the world. Its effective delivery results in the development of empathy, morals, ethics and values in the children who experience it. Teaching the younger generations these values is essential in changing the lives of the millions of animals that suffer from cruelty across the globe.

What do children think about animals? Children love to be around animals, and undoubtedly there is a benefit in physical interaction, particularly in encouraging empathy towards animals. However,caution must be applied. Using animals in education section of this pack for all the requirements that must be met for teachers  and parents to consider keeping animals at school or home. During this session we discussed how we should properly educate our kids and what's needed for proper education. 

How to teach children in schools:

• Interviewing a veterinarian 
• Inviting an animal shelter staff member to visit the class/group
• Searching for reliable information on pet care 
• Making a poster for school asking kids to submit their pet care tips 
• Visiting a shelter or doing some actions on volunteering at a shelter for animals 

The second part of the day focused on use of animals for the therapy. Every year thousand of people, are getting better thanks to spending time with their animal friends. In the presentation, Noemi, the participant from Hungary, highlighted how animals help us to get better. In groups we discussed most popular types of animal therapy, its benefits and shared our experiences.

Participants from Lithuania, who had experience with taking care of the horses, were asked to make a presentation about their work. They explained what they do as part of the training, how to care for horses and also other beneficial reasons for spending time horse-riding, such as animal therapy.

Day 6

Visiting local NGO 

Today we visited local charity  Woodside Sanctuary. For most of the participants this was their first visit to the UK Animal Shelter in general. Here they could compare how Britain takes care of animals and what kind of care animals here need. After return, we discussed role of NGOs and UK legislation. Together we talked about how they work in UK and what are well-known practices.

 

Later that day, in the afternoon session, we also talked about animal protection and specifics of cats physiology that makes such interesting creatures, analysing videos and laws about animal protection in UK legislation. We talked about UK best practice (RSPCA, Cat Protection, PDSA, International Cat Care) and types of activities. To compare UK to other European countries, in February 2015 UK released this video from the mentioned party political broadcast on behalf of cats! Owners and their gorgeous cats explain how politicians can make a better world for cats. 

Day 5

Explaining roles of cats in history

 

Today we decided to look at the cats in different cultures, and how people cared about them throughout the history, and how it changed in modern times. Each group researched one aspect of cats in history, and then they presented their finding to others.

For example, did you know cats also had a big religious role in Islam? Prophet Muhammad was tender and kind towards cats. He appreciated cats as a cat once saved his life. Hazrat Muhammad's  favourite cat was called Muezza. There is a well-known story regarding the Prophet and Muezza. Even to this day cats are the only animals allowed in mosques. 

Cats have always had big importance in history. In Egypt, where they were viewed as guardians of the underworld. Cats can be also frequently found in ancient Greece. For example famous superstition about black cats being seen as omen of death comes from Greece - in ancient times black cats were thought to be an omen of death because of their connection with Hecate, goddess of magic and necromancy. Interesting comparison with old British mythology, where white cat that is viewed as bad omen. Greece also introduced one of the first concepts of animal protection and rights. Famous philosopher Pythagoras added concept of animal rights into philosophy, and all his life fought for protection of their rights, often contradicting Aristotle who said animals were inferior to human and are there to only serve our needs. 

In Japan, cat Maneki Neko is a symbol of good fortune. Have you heard about cat island in Japan, inhabited by hundredths of cats? The island Aoshima, is famous for being cat domain. Small fishing village is literally surrounded by cats, they outnumber humans six to one on the island.

 

However, taking care of the animals doesn't have have only bright side. One of the main tasks today was to tackle the issue of animal rights and cruelty against animals. Participants researched how people cared for animals in history compared to modern times in different countries. In group work, participants were asked to explore the questions about responsible ownership or how religion in countries made difference towards treatment of animals. For example, Arabic countries have stronger law considering treatment of cats than Christian countries in Europe where animal right were a bit benevolent. However, UK still poses as a great example in animal right protection. 

Day 4

Today was the day for the Organisational market. All the participants presented their organisation and projects to the others and then discussed their stance on animal security. 

On this project we have participants from Lithuania, Romania, Greece, Hungary and UK. Every country has their own rules and legislations, so discussing the differences was vital part of our day. 

Noemi from Hungary (first photo), presented Misima animal shelter, her family manages. Szilvia, the team leader of the Hungarian group (second picture), presented the project from one of their team members focused on Cat rescue in her home-town . 

Later today participants were asked to discuss One Europe-common issue. Their main task was to find out how animal Protection legislation differs in EU countries, and how it is working. Talking about deep culture of the counties and applying it to the attitude towards animals. The participants prepared in advance (as part of their preparation for the project) a talk about the situation in their home country. We found that many countries introduced a pet protection laws/policies, but it is not working properly.

However because, not whole day should be about working, in the afternoon, participants were free to roam around Plymouth.

Day 3

How to take care of your animal friends 

Every animal owner has to arrange many things before having a pet. Creating a nice environment for them is one of the most important things. It is time consuming and costs money, but providing your pets with proper care works both ways – happy cat, happy owner. Today we also talked about how much you should spend monthly to provide your furry friends with everything they need.

For this exercise, the participants were divided into group of three, according to their level of knowledge and previous involvement. The groups of beginners were asked to identify basic need of pets and formulate them in 5 main groups (home, toys, food, health and caring). The groups of experts moved thing a bit further.

Their task was to explore and discuss following areas:

1. Types of toys cat and dog needs. How toys address their daily needs
2. Type of food. Which food is more suitable, dry or wet
3. Type of food in terms of ingredients. Analyse brands and difference in food for cats and dogs. 
4. Care. What it includes, what an owner should be aware of.

Participants worked in groups. After collecting ideas, they discussed their finding, first between each other, then together with other groups.

Later that day, the participants’ task was to create an “Adventure in the garden.” Groups sorted by nationalities, were asked to create a perfect garden for your cat. However, having a cat friendly garden is not as easy as it looks. Participants were also asked to prepare poster and drawing of their pet garden, following these guidelines.

Things every pet owner should remember:

• You need to include places for physical exercise – cat gym
• Sort out which plants are dangerous to your pet
• Cats are territorial, so how to help them to protect their territory.
• Psychological and biological factors.

Day 2

Second day was packed with a number of activities starting at 9.30am. We started with official opening ceremony, introduced the project, aims and need to increase awareness in animal welfare.

Why we needed to organise this project

The project is now in full start and we decided to sit down and talk about why we needed to organise it. There are a lot of things that affect our planet and environment around us  in a bad way, but the good thing is that everyone can help to reduce them and do their bit for the environment. Children and young people are the key figures for a better  future of animals. The problem of stray cat and dog population in Eastern and Southern Europe is on very big scale. Europe has a very serious stray animals issue. Stray animals can become a problem for many reasons: they carry diseases that can be passed to humans and other animals (and, therefore, this is ecological issue), they can cause road accidents, harass and attack citizens, damage property and pollute the environment. They are often seen as a nuisance and health hazard by the people who live alongside them, resulting in persecution by humans in the form of cruelty, abuse and inhumane methods of killing. 

On July 4, 2012 the EU announced the "European Parliament resolution on the establishment of an EU legal framework for the protection of pets and stray animals" calling on the Commission  to put forward an EU legal framework for the protection of stray animals, including (among other points) information and educational programmes for children and young people in schools and other settings. European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, Chapter IV, Article 14 says that there is a need to develop educational programmes and increase awareness of animal welfare and protection. Therefore, the need to increase work in the field of youth on animal protection issues  has been identified and confirmed on the grassroot level, and this is in line with European strategy, which recognise a need on European and international level.

Our project is a platform for young people to increase their  knowledge in animal welfare field and explore the ways to tackle the issue of stray animals through care, responsible ownership and active citizenship. This was also one of their tasks on the second day. After the break, the participants worked in mixed group to identify their expectations (skills they brought, expected outcomes of the training, long-term outcomes, guidelines for working together)  and  fears.

Day 1

Arrival. It was busy day. The first participant arrived at 5am, and then the rest followed…

The official meeting time was at 7pm.  After dinner, the Introduction session and Icebreakers activity have been organised. Icebreakers played an important role in helping young people integrate and connect with one another in a group environment. And because most of the participants didn't know each other before coming to Plymouth, it also helped them to stimulate cooperation and participation. 

Happy Hungarian group, who just arrived in the UK is enjoying British weather and looking forward to start the project. 

Welcome everyone!

We at Amber Initiatives Erasmus+ proudly presents our activities from the international Youth Exchange "Under One Sky" dedicated to learn more about animal welfare and protection, as well as a role NGOs in tackling problem of growing stray pets population in European countries.

On this blog we will share what we learned during our time together, and how this international cooperation changed our view of animal protection.