Claire Tillman's Presentation

I really enjoyed Claire’s presentation. What I was really affected by in her talk was her choice to devote her animal welfare efforts on education for children. I have thought about it before, but her discussion really made me see the importance of teaching children about the proper treatment of animals at an early age. I was surprised and saddened when she said many of the children she teaches have witnessed abuse in their own homes. I can imagine how difficult it must be to incite change in these children when they see this type of animal mistreatment every day. It must be very confusing for them to be told in the classroom that what their family members or neighbors are doing is wrong. The presentation led me to see the need for these children to have people to look to for an example of how to treat animals.

Another point Claire brought up which upset me was the connection between how a person treats animals and they way they treat people. If an adult figure in a child’s life abuses animals, how do they treat the child? When an adult brings a child to a dogfight, what are they instilling in that child and how will it affect him or her in the future.

Overall, the presentation has inspired me to potentially seek out humane education opportunities in the future. It is vital to start while children are young, teaching them why abuse is wrong so they do not continue the trend when they become adults. It makes me wish that I would have considered the CBL project as an opportunity to reach out to the children of the community who deserve to learn the truth about how to treat animals.