Several years ago, the apartment building I was living in had a fire in the middle of the night. I woke up to a firefighter banging on my door telling me to leave the building now. I was teaching kindergarten at the time, and so of course I knew that I should immediately leave the building without pausing to grab anything. So what did I do? I paused to grab something: my cat. She was hiding under the bed by this point and was none too happy to have me drag her out and stuff her in a duffel bag. But there wasn’t a chance I was leaving that building without my cat.
Long story short, my apartment was unscathed, but my storage area in the basement had some serious smoke damage. For years, whenever I put up my Christmas tree, the living room would smell like a barbeque.
I can’t imagine being caught in a serious disaster, such as a forest fire or flood, that requires you to leave your pet behind. Who helps all those pets caught in unfortunate circumstances? That would be the American Humane Association’s Red Star Animal Relief Program. In addition to rescuing animals, they also help animals who are the victims of cruelty, and they have an animal-assisted therapy program. Check out this website for some interesting information to share with your students. In my opinion, compassion toward animals is an important component of character education!