Spay Neuter Network's Humane Education
Safe Kids. Safe Pets. Safe Communities.
Every year, thousands of children encounter dogs they don’t know, stray animals in their neighborhoods, and situations that require them to make safe choices around pets.
Spay Neuter Network’s Humane Education Program – The Safe Kids, Safe Pets, Save Communities Initiative, helps children develop the knowledge, confidence, and compassion needed to stay safe while promoting responsible pet ownership and animal welfare.
Since launching in Fort Worth in 2019 and expanding to San Antonio in 2026, the program has reached more than 46,000 students through engaging, age-appropriate lessons that teach dog safety, animal behavior, responsible pet care, kindness to animals, and the importance of spaying and neutering pets.
What Students Learn
Through interactive discussions, videos, and hands-on activities, students learn:
• How to safely interact with dogs and other animals
• What to do if approached by a loose or stray dog
• How to recognize basic animal body language
• Responsible pet care and ownership
• The importance of kindness, empathy, and respect toward animals
• Why spaying and neutering helps pets and communities
What Students Learn
Through interactive discussions, videos, and hands-on activities, students learn:
• How to safely interact with dogs and other animals
• What to do if approached by a loose or stray dog
• How to recognize basic animal body language
• Responsible pet care and ownership
• The importance of kindness, empathy, and respect toward animals
• Why spaying and neutering helps pets and communities
Education Meets Access to Care
Spay Neuter Network focuses its humane education programs in many of the same underserved neighborhoods where we provide free and affordable veterinary services. These communities often lack nearby access to affordable pet care and may face transportation and financial barriers that make it difficult for families to obtain services for their pets.
These communities also traditionally have higher incidents of owner surrenders, dog bites, and stray dogs roaming their neighborhoods. By bringing humane education directly into local schools while simultaneously providing outreach and veterinary resources in the community, we create a comprehensive approach that reaches children, parents, and pets alike, helping build safer, healthier, and more compassionate communities.
Education Meets Access to Care
Spay Neuter Network focuses its humane education programs in many of the same underserved neighborhoods where we provide free and affordable veterinary services. These communities often lack nearby access to affordable pet care and may face transportation and financial barriers that make it difficult for families to obtain services for their pets.
These communities also traditionally have higher incidents of owner surrenders, dog bites, and stray dogs roaming their neighborhoods. By bringing humane education directly into local schools while simultaneously providing outreach and veterinary resources in the community, we create a comprehensive approach that reaches children, parents, and pets alike, helping build safer, healthier, and more compassionate communities.
Impact Beyond the Classroom
The impact of humane education extends far beyond the students sitting in front of us. Children take these lessons home and share what they learn with parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors, becoming ambassadors for responsible pet ownership, animal welfare, and community safety.
We’ve had students tell us they have encountered loose or stray dogs in their neighborhoods and knew how to respond because of what they learned in the program. Over time, this knowledge spreads throughout neighborhoods, helping create safer interactions between people and animals while fostering empathy, compassion, and responsible pet ownership.
By educating children, we are also educating families, creating lasting change that benefits entire communities.
Building Safer Communities
Fort Worth: Where It All Began
Fort Worth is where Spay Neuter Network’s Humane Education Program began. Since launching in 2019, the program has reached more than 41,075 students through partnerships with Fort Worth ISD, after-school programs, summer enrichment programs, and community organizations. What started as a dog safety and responsible pet care initiative has grown into a community-wide effort to help children understand animal behavior, prevent dog bites, promote responsible pet ownership, and connect families with affordable pet care resources. Today, Fort Worth remains the foundation of the program and a model for expanding humane education into communities where it can have the greatest impact.
San Antonio: Expanding the Impact
Building on the success of the Fort Worth program, Spay Neuter Network expanded humane education to San Antonio through a partnership with San Antonio ISD, launching classroom presentations in January 2026. The program focuses on schools in underserved neighborhoods where families often face financial and transportation barriers to veterinary care and where loose or stray dogs are a common concern. In addition to teaching dog safety, animal behavior, and responsible pet ownership, the program provides bilingual educational materials and information about affordable pet care services available through Spay Neuter Network and community partners. In its first semester alone, the program reached more than 5,300 students and their families.
Program Information
• Available for elementary schools, after-school programs, summer enrichment programs, and community organizations
• Age-appropriate lessons for Kindergarten through Fifth Grade
• Programs typically range from 30 to 50 minutes
• Students receive bilingual take-home educational materials and information about how to get their dog or cat spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped.
How Schedule a Program
For more information about scheduling a humane education program, contact: humaneeducation@spayneuternet.org
SUPPORT
The Humane Education Initiative is supported by The Saving Hope Foundation, SNIP, SNIP HOORAY and Spay Neuter Network. Email humaneeducation@spayneuternet.org if you would like to help sponsor these programs
Testimonials
Tobi Jackson, Executive Director for SPARC (after-school programs), Fort Worth, Texas
“This humane education program was the showstopper of our summer camp. The responses from students and parents were 100% in favor of her approaches to safety, respect and care of animals and the teachings transferred to the family. Students were provided 30 minutes weekly, yet the sessions went 45 minutes to an hour, with Cathy individually answering questions online and afterward via emails to students. The parents and students wanted more of this kind of education for their children, and from these statistics provided by local animal control, this is the place to be.”
Kyle Williams, P.E. Co-Teacher, Clifford Davis Elementary, Fort Worth, Texas
“Cathy presented at our school regarding pet safety and it was wonderful. She instructed our children with verbal and hands-on activities. She answered their questions and even taught them a few ways to connect with their animal, along with some tricks to teach their dogs. The information she provided was vital for our kids because most of them had never heard it presented in this manner. The safety information was particularly vital for our kids. This program is an outstanding extension of learning for our students and I hope Cathy gets to teach many other students in this area.”
Cynthia Escamilla, Counselor, Worth Heights Elementary School, Fort Worth, Texas
“I want to thank you again for the wonderful presentation last week. Our students and also our teachers really enjoyed it and learned a lot of important safety information from you. It is helpful for our students to know, especially what to do if attacked by a stray animal and the correct way to go about approaching/petting someone else's pet. We unfortunately do have a lot of stray animals in our area and I believe the information you gave us was very helpful and necessary. I also found the animal care/responsibility tips that you gave extremely important. I have to say even I learned a few interesting and fun training tips from your presentation that I couldn't wait to go and try on my dogs at home. Thanks again for coming to our school. We hope we can have you back in the future, as we all learned a lot from you!”
Enrique Rodriguez, PE teacher, Worth Heights Elementary School, Fort Worth, Texas
“I just wanted to thank Mrs. Rosenthal for coming by Worth Heights Elementary and presenting. The information she shared about strays and pets was informative. It was relevant information for the children. The students were engaged and seemed to really connect with the material. Teachers as well commented on how they learned from her presentation. I appreciate it, and I am sure the information resonated with many of the students. Thanks again.”
Doris Sanchez, Coach, Hubbard Heights Elementary School, Fort Worth, Texas
“It was a pleasure having you at Hubbard. You taught the student, as well as the teachers, things that are vital in taking care of our beloved animals. I have been reviewing the information with the students the past two days and will continue next week and again and again in the spring to keep the information fresh in the minds of our students. All the information that you presented was on target and it was amazing to have you as our trainer/teacher for the day. Thank you so much, and again, thank you for your expertise on animal safety.”
Councilman Edward Mungia, District 4, San Antonio, Texas
"Programs like Spay Neuter Network's Pet Care and Dog Safety Program provide children and their families with practical skills to stay safe around animals while helping build a foundation of lifelong compassion and responsible pet ownership. Providing resources and education opportunities to become responsible pet guardians is an essential way we can help transform our communities by teaching children and their families about humane education. This teaches people the importance of empathy and respect for animals. Expanding these learning opportunities across the city will allow more people to better understand how we can foster an environment that views animals with compassion and care."