Early childhood engagement with animals and animal welfare concepts is associated with developed empathy and prosocial behaviour, with programmes integrating animal welfare education into schools showing measurable outcomes.
Animal welfare education in childhood is both intrinsically valuable for improving animal welfare outcomes and instrumentally valuable for developing prosocial human capacities. Children who learn to identify and respond to animal distress develop generalised empathy skills. School-based programmes that include observation of animal behaviour, welfare assessment exercises, and ethical discussions prepare children to make more informed choices as adult consumers and citizens. The challenge is providing authentic animal experiences in increasingly urbanised school settings where direct contact with animals is limited.