Alliance for Urban Animals extends support to Puppy Project

Louis McCann
InfoStream Guest Author 

Some of you recently attended the 9^th Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, in Alberta, Canada. Its mission is to support and develop successful strategies for urban animals and to provide recognition for those who lead. 

One such leader in attendance this year was Eileen Higginbotham, a special education teacher from Prince Edward Island. Eileen came to the Summit as part of this year’s Innovation Showcase to present her program, The Prince Street Puppy Project.  

The Prince Street Puppy Project was started in 2011 at Prince Street School in Charlottetown, PEI. Every day, specially selected dogs would come to the school to interact with and engage students. Ms. Higginbotham was able to demonstrate how her program used integrated animal experiences to promote leadership and build empathy amongst the participating students. She explained how her approach instilled confidence, enhanced cooperation and fostered problem solving skills. It also had a profoundly positive effect on the students who struggled most, by helping to create incentives to work hard and giving a sense of belonging at the school.  

Delegates quickly realized the significant impact her program had on students with special needs. You can imagine the shock the delegates felt when we were informed that the Prince Street School initiative had been stopped due to lack of policy.

As members of the Alliance for Urban Animals and on behalf of their close to 1800 like-minded colleagues across North America dedicated to creating healthy communities and positive experiences with companion animals, the OSPCA and PIJAC Canada decided to take action. 

In a letter to the Honourable J. Alan McIsaac, PEI Minster of Education and Early Childhood Development, we expressed our surprise at such a project having been put on hold. In our opinion, a project like this one fit perfectly under the Minister’s Directive on Special Education, which seems to guarantee the use of “alternative initiatives” such as this one in service to the province’s students with special needs.

We also noted that Ms. Higginbotham’s program should be a great source of pride and inspiration to his ministry, the government and the entire province. Having won a provincial award, regional and national recognition (runner up to Innovator of the Year award and designation of Urban Animal Mentor) and being the model for other similar programs in Nova Scotia reflects well on the province’s innovative ways. We invited the Minister to contact the Alliance for Urban Animals for assistance in addressing the concerns that may have been expressed on this program. 

The Alliance for Urban Animals needs to voice its support of projects like the one put together by Ms. Higginbotham, emphasizing the importance of such an approach in enhancing the quality of education for students with special needs. We believe that a positive pet experience is instrumental in improving the learning experience of these students.

We can only hope that a solution can be brought forward to re-instate this life altering educational curriculum and provide these exceptional students with the tools they need to learn and grow.