HUMANE EDUCATION TRUST
Incorporating Compassion in World Farming (South
Africa) and Animal Voice
2nd
August 2006
Dear Dr Schoeman,
South African School Teacher to address the United Nations
on Humane Education
Further to our request to the Constitutional Review
Committee for the formal acknowledgment of animal sentience and our duty to
care for animals, I herewith kindly inform you of two significant developments.
Please could you pass this information on to other committee members so that
they can be aware of these developments before the meeting on Friday (August
4):
1. Vivienne Rutgers,
an Eerste River teacher who has served with the Western Cape Education
Department (WCED) for 31 years, has been invited to address the United Nations
Forum on Millennium Goals in New York on September 7 2006. She will speak on
Humane Education (the learning of respect for all life) as part of sustainable
development.
2. The Western Cape
Education Department (WCED) has seconded Vivienne Rutgers, as from today, to a
managerial role as Subject Adviser in order for her to roll out Humane
Education through the Revised Curriculum, in all schools nationally.
3. The Superintendent General of the WCED, Mr Ronald Swartz,
supports the acknowledgement of animals as sentient beings. This is what he
says: “How we treat animals and how we
treat each other are two stems that grow from the same root. If there are
thorns of neglect, contempt or cruelty on one, we can be sure to find them on
the other.” These sentiments are based
on a presumption that animals are not products, but are sentient beings and as
such, deserve our care and respect in all our dealings with them.
Acknowledgement of ‘sentience’ does not mean that we cannot
use animals. It means that we are obligated to use care and respect in our
interactions with animals.
With Kind Regards,
Louise van der Merwe
CEO: The Humane Education Trust
SA Representative: Compassion in World Farming
Editor: Animal Voice
Cell: 082 457 9177
Tel/fax: (021) 852 8160
E-mail: [email protected]