Evaluation of the Animal Guardians programme: An intervention for children who have harmed animals

Childhood animal harm is associated with poor psychological outcomes and may co-occur with delinquency and violent behavior. Despite this, there are few established interventions for childhood animal harm and no research evaluating their effectiveness. This study is an evaluation of Animal Guardians, a targeted educational intervention delivered by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (Scottish SPCA) for children who have harmed animals or showing concerning behaviors toward animals. Animal Guardians is for primary school children in Scotland and is delivered one-to-one in the child’s school over a 6–10-week period targeting: (1) understanding of animal sentience and emotions, (2) knowledge of animal welfare needs, (3) care and empathy toward animals, and (4) correct handling and behavior around animals. Using a matched-control sample of 48 children (24 referred to Animal Guardians and 24 matched controls) we evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention through a pre- post-test assessment measuring targeted constructs. Mixed ANOVAs showed that children receiving the Animal Guardians program improved significantly more than controls on welfare knowledge, behavior toward animals, and cognitive and behavioral empathy. Furthermore, post-hoc tests showed that referred children improved significantly on belief in animal minds and affective empathy. The intervention was equally effective for girls and boys, and independent of animal harm-severity at referral. Younger children had a marginally greater improvement than older children. Animal Guardians is an effective program and demonstrates that educational interventions can reduce risk of childhood animal harm among high-risk children. More research is required on whether positive changes are maintained over long periods and whether educational interventions might complement psychological interventions.