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THE NEW YORK
BAR FOUNDATION

LAWS THAT PROTECT ANIMALS Grades 4-6

Standards Addressed:
Grade Four NYS Standards
Grade Five NYS Standards
Grade Six NYS Standards

Unit Overview: People have a responsibility to refrain from behavior that causes injury to other human beings or to animals. That responsibility is defined in laws and in the decisions of our courts and administrative agencies, such as health and state departments of agriculture. This unit will explore laws that are designed to protect animals as well as organizations which help to make and enforce laws.

Objective I: Students will be able to explain the reasoning behind a variety of laws that exist to protect animals.

Motivation: Encourage students to volunteer their own experiences about interacting with their companion animals. Do they walk their dogs on leashes in public places and why? Have their cats or dogs been spayed or neutered? If their companion animals have had puppies, kittens, how do they find suitable homes for these animals?

Mini-lesson:
Discuss one or more of the following laws with students. See Appendix A for copies of the laws. Visit the ASPCA Law Manual, New York State Laws at http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nyslaw for more information on other New York State laws pertaining to animals.

Law 353: The Anti-Cruelty Law
Law 353-a: The Aggravated Anti-Cruelty Law
Law 355: The Anti-Abandonment Law
Law 351: The Anti-Dog-Fighting Law

What does each law require? What are the penalties for breaking the law? Why do you think that each law is important? Watch for information on Law 353-b. This 2003 law is important because it deals with providing dogs that are kept outside with adequate shelter to protect them from rain, snow, cold and heat.

Note: The readability level of these laws is high. Teachers may have to translate these laws into simpler language for students in grades 4 – 6.

Small Group Activity:
Divide the students into groups and have each group search periodicals -- suitable to the group’s reading level -- for news stories and features about (1) cruelty to companion animals, (2) abandonment of companion animals and (3) dog-fighting. Have each group of students report back to the class about what they learned. What law was broken? What penalties were imposed upon people for breaking the law?

Objective II: Students will be able to give examples about the role of law enforcement agencies and legislators in preventing cruelty to animals.

Motivation: Invite a law enforcement officer to address the class by contacting your local humane society or police department. Ask her/him to discuss unlawful activities involving animals such as cruelty to animals, abandonment of animals and dog-fighting. Have her/him address efforts underway to stop the illegal activity. Ask the officer to explain how the students can assist law enforcement officers merely by being observant in their own community.

The students may also be encouraged to watch the television program “Animal Precinct” as a means of learning more about the role of law enforcement agencies. If you are unable to get a law enforcement officer to visit the class, assign specific episodes of “Animal Precinct” and then discuss the program viewed with the class. What illegal activities did officers interfere with? What happened to the animals in each episode? Were any fines or other penalties imposed on the people?

Mini-lesson:
The teacher may want to spend some time discussing how a bill becomes a law as part of this unit. For background information, go to American History Syllabus at www.socialstudieshelp.com. Click onto “American History.” Type in “Bill Becomes Law” in “Search this site” box and click onto “find.” Click onto “How a bill becomes a law.”

Select a recently introduced bill dealing with animal issues to discuss with your class. To find information on the Internet, log onto www.assembly.state.ny.us. Click onto “Bill Search and Legislative Information.” Click onto “Search by Keyword.” Type in “Animal.” Click on “Search.” This will get you to a list of bills (proposed legislation). A summary of each bill you select, the number of the bill, the senate equivalent and the name of the sponsor can be found at this site. A similar listing can be found at www.senate.state.ny.us. Try to choose a bill that appears important and logical. You may want to call your local or state humane society’s education department for help in selecting a bill for class discussion.

Highlight the key points of the bill on a chart or overhead transparency. Introduce the chart and discuss the key points with the students. At several points have the students “talk and turn” to their partner discussing why they think the bill is useful or important or why not. Stress accountable talk. During talk and turn, the teacher circulates and participates in various discussions. Bring the class together to share key points of their discussions.

Small Group Activity:
As a class, have the students select an animal-related problem in their community that they think could be solved by legislation. Have groups of students develop ideas for how this problem could be solved. Have them report back to the entire class with their ideas. As a class, draft a proposal to be submitted to community leaders which would solve the problem to the benefit of the animals and people who live there.

Summary:
As part of a computer lab, library project or homework, have groups of students identify local legislators or public officials who have introduced legislation pertaining to animal matters. This can be done by visiting the web sites of the legislative bodies under study at www.assembly.state.ny.us and www.senate.state.ny.us. If their own representative has not introduced legislation of this nature, students can identify other legislators or public officials within New York State who have done so. What legislation has been introduced? Does the student think the legislation is important or not, and why?
Help students to learn about additional laws that exist to protect animals.
Log onto www.assembly.state.ny.us. Click onto “Bill Search and Legislative Information.” Click onto “New York State Laws,” then on to “New York State Consolidated Laws,” then “Agriculture & Markets,” and “Article 26.” There will be a listing of laws. Select one or two to discuss as a class. Why are they important?

Follow-up Activities:
Using a topic -- if possible determined by the students themselves (otherwise one of two or more ideas suggested by the teacher) -- divide the class into groups advocating differing points of view. Have the students research their topic in the library and on the Internet. Have each group present their findings and recommendations to the class. Conduct a brief debate between the groups for different viewpoints for each topic discussed. Students may wish to address situations that occur within the school itself.

For example:

a) Chick-Hatching (opt-in and opt-out is now permitted: review Education Law provisions for Study and Care of Live Animals in Section 809-2)
           - Should chick-hatching be required in elementary schools?
           - Should chick-hatching be banned in elementary schools?
           - Should teachers and students be allowed to opt-in or opt-out of chick-hatching projects?

b) Frog-Dissection and dissection of other animals and animal-parts (opt-in and opt-out is now permitted: review Education Law provisions for dissection of animals in Section 809-4)
           - Should animal-dissection be required in elementary schools?
           - Should animal-dissection be banned in elementary schools?
           - Should teachers and students be allowed to opt-in or opt-out of animal-dissection projects at the elementary school level?

Is there any local or state legislation regarding the topic chosen by the students? Your local humane society should be able to tell you or you can contact the ASPCA Education or Legal Department.

Have each of several groups of students select an organization that deals with animals and/or animal welfare, including non-profit organizations, government agencies, and profit-making enterprises. Ask the students to interview spokespersons about how they achieve their objectives and help the communities that they serve such as the local animal-shelter.

Visit www.assembly.state.ny.us/kids to reach the Kid’s Pages of the New York Assembly website. Learn what the Assembly does. Who is the current Speaker of the Assembly?
Who is your Assembly member (your state representative)?

Learn about the local and federal laws designed to help protect animals. Visit the ASPCA Law Manual at http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=disclaimer. You will have to register and select a password to use this site. Try to get a member of Congress (your federal representative) or member of the city-council or town board (your local representative) to address the class concerning the different laws and bills designed to help protect animals.

CLICK HERE for online resources relating to these lessons