Animal Clubs in schools across Australia are regularly taking part in activities to help animals. The following selection of Animal Clubs are profiled to show you how much can be done by caring students with great Club Leaders and a lot of enthusiasm and passion. 

Congratulations to all of our Animal Club members and Club Leaders for the great work you all do!

Mount Lawley - winner of the 2006 "Humane School" Prize!

Some Animal Club members with Wendy Colgrove (Animal Club
Leader) on the grounds of Mount Lawley Primary School, WA

Mount Lawley Primary School in Perth, WA runs an Animal Club (mostly at lunch times) under the leadership of one of the schools’ teachers – Wendy Colgrove.

So far the clubs activities have consisted of hosting visiting speakers of animal help organisations such as “Free the Bears”, Wild life Protection Volunteers, the Ferret Association and others.

They have been involved in a huge variety of activities from raising money to sponsor a sloth bear to holding cake stalls to raise money to help protect the koala’s habitat that is currently being destroyed at an alarming rate.

They have created a whole series of Christmas cards with a compassionate message, printed on recycled paper with “Compassion to all Things” as the focus.  The cards’ artwork was done mostly by year 6 students.

Different Animal Club members are regularly chosen to write the Club’s updates for the Animal Club website and Club members have taken on a real leadership role at school assemblies, keeping the rest of the school informed of our upcoming Animal Club activities.

This very busy Animal Club has also created a” Teacher’s Pet” calendar for 2007 which features all the schools’ teachers with their companion animals.

Animal Club Leader, Wendy says: “All in all 2006 was a fabulous year and what is even better it all we do for Animal Club is directly in line with the Education Department curriculum guidelines, more specifically our school’s priority focus which is: “Friendly Schools, Friendly Families” - an education program aimed at enhancing student self esteem, caring about others and discouraging bullying type behaviour.  We would like to encourage all schools to participate in Animal club because not only do we get to help animals we also got lots of support and prizes from Voiceless’s Animal Club which has made our mission so much easier.”

And the hard work that Mount Lawley Primary School’s Animal Club has put in, has also paid off.  They were awarded the 2006 Humane School Prize at an exciting event in Sydney in February 2007, and the entire school is really excited and proud about this.  Two of their Animal Club members got to fly to Sydney and meet all of the Voiceless team as well as Abbie Cornish and Hugo Weaving, the ambassadors.

Club Leader Wendy finished by saying: “Everyone had so much fun and feels so good helping animals that we all just can’t wait to start over again in 2007.”

Clifton Hills Primary School - Winner of the 2007 "Humane School" Prize!

Clifton Hills Primary School is a government school located in Clifton Hills, Kelmscott, Western Australia. Clifton Hills Primary School Animal Club was founded in Term 2, 2006, by Year 5 classroom teacher, Mrs. Tanya Ritchie.  Initial membership was open to Year 3, 4 and 5 students with a total number of 63 students joining the club for the year of 2006.  Since that time, membership has been extended to include Years 2 and 6 students and there is currently a total number of 80 members signed up for the 2007 year.  Also, joining the leadership team for the Year 2007, is Year 4 teacher, Ms. Rachel Della Franca, and Educational Assistant, Mrs. Julianne Stoaks.

During 2006, CHPS Animal Club members worked very hard to raise the awareness of animal protection and welfare issues through their participation in many different activities, e.g.  We created meaningful message t-shirts, entered animal competitions, hosted guest speakers, held assembly presentations and hosted student presentations.  We also assisted a local animal shelter, The Animal Protection Society, through our combined movie and food and supply drives.

Due to the commitment and hard work of the 2006 club members, our club was awarded the Runner Up prize at the 2006 Humane School Prize Award.  To receive this award, two of our club’s student members, Clementine and Jayden, and the club leader, Mrs. Tanya Ritchie, attended the awards ceremony in Sydney.  This amazing trip was made possible, thanks to the Animal Club Network and Voiceless, who not only hosted the awards event but organised and provided all the necessary arrangements, such as, airfares and accommodation, for our club’s representatives.

This year, in 2007, our club is very excited and motivated about our purpose and we will continue to meet every Wednesday at 12.10 p.m. for our weekly Animal club meeting, whilst also still looking forward to not only continuing, but further developing the assistance we can provide our animal friends!!

Yuluma Primary School

We hold a Teddy Bears Picnic day in once a year. All the children invite their friends and relatives to join them for a picnic lunch. At Yuluma Primary School everyone supports kindness to and caring for animals. We believe that people who love animals will be excellent members of society, and that loving animals is one way we can show how to love and care.

Animal Club Leader and Teacher Mrs Mort with some of her
Animal Club Members

Everyone brings their own lunch and we spread our blankets on the lawn. We also set up a microphone so that anyone can sing animal songs or read animal poems. Last year we collected $400 for Free the Bears. We also have an Animal Club.  Our Animal Club Leader is our teacher, Ms Mort.  We have meetings during lunch-eating time. Last term we organized an Animal Gala Day and the Animal Club set up lots of stall like white elephant, face painting, drinks and food, and games. We raised $400 for the RSPCA.  We also have lots of guest speakers in to talk to the classes such as the RSPCA, Animal Companions and the council Rangers.   Soon we will be visiting the RSPCA. We also write letters or draw posters to protest against such things as whaling by Japan, killing baby seals in Canada, eating cats and dogs in China and the export of live animals in Australia. We have two money boxes at our canteen and children and parents drop spare coins in. We usually collect about $5 a week which we send away at the end of each term to Animals Asia.

Hawker College

Students for Animals is the Animal Club group run by teacher Karen Vincent and Year 11 and 12 students at Hawker College in Canberra. The group meets fortnightly to discuss animal issues, promote vegetarianism, and brainstorm fundraising activities to hold at school. Some of our recent activities have included running a Jelly Bean Guessing Competition (gelatine free of course!), gathering signatures on a petition to ban the production of battery cage eggs in the ACT (an incentive of Animal Liberation ACT), as well as holding various information stalls in our cafeteria.  One of our most successful activities involved parading student Nick Rodda, our ‘free range chicken’, around the school in order to raise funds for the group.  Our main goal for this semester is to raise $1000 to sponsor a moon bear at the Animals Asia sanctuary in China and to educate the general school population about current animal rights issues.  

Runcorn Heights

Students from class 6/7 a Runcorn Heights State School getting
to know 'Peggy' the movie star piglet from 'Charlottes's Web' in
October 2005. Peggy Lives with her fellow piggy movie star
Lottie and their owner Chris Adams (pictured) at Logan Village
on the outskirts of Brisbane where she enjoys a life of freedom.

Runcorn Heights State School believes it is vital that children learn to care.  So its integrated curriculum is delivered through ‘Centres of Care’.  One Centre of Care is ‘Care for Animals, Plants and the Natural Environment’. In 2004, Year 7 students showed they cared by organising their very own Furry Friends Fun Fest which raised $2000 for Animal Liberation Qld and the RSPCA.  In the lead up to the fete, the children invented a mock television station, The Animal Channel, to educate every class in the school about animal rights and responsible pet care.  Shows such as ‘Who Wants to be a Pet Owner?’, ‘Extreme Pet Makeover’ and ‘Pet Idol’ gave lots of information in a fun way. The children later became real TV stars when the children’s show Totally Wild heard about their production and asked if they could come to school to film a segment.

In 2005 the Year 6s and 7s continued their active citizenship.  They taught their fellow students how the living conditions of battery hens and intensively farmed pigs in Australia are very similar to the conditions endured by China’s Moon Bears who are farmed in cages for their bile.  The children ran Christmas gift stalls to help the animals and raised over $1000 for Animals Asia, Animal Liberation Qld and the RSPCA.