Ideas to Help Create Empathy for Animals in Our Kids

As an animal lover and animal advocate, I wanted to make sure that Veena started to learn at a very young age how to be gentle with animals and have compassion for them. I believe it always starts at home. One of the things we always stress particularly when interacting with our dog, Webster (our other dog, Lucy passed this past Dec.) is that we have to be gentle with him. When she was under the age of two, she was fascinated with his tail as a lot of children are with animals. I mean, they wag, they are long, they look fun… definitely can understand the attraction. However, we had to make sure to let her know that we don’t pull his tail. We model gentle touch and make sure to remind her that we don’t pull ears or a tail. We treat our animals with respect. We don’t sit on our dog or “ride” him. His body deserves respect and only gentle touch and love. When we meet pets outside the home, we always try to model asking the owner first if it’s ok to pet their animal and then, letting their animal, usually a dog, sniff our hands and then, gently pet. For some kids this is very natural for them. Veena luckily adapted to it quite quickly though she was heavy handed initially.

The other thing you can do besides modeling behavior is get toys and books that reinforce this message of being gentle, kind and compassionate towards animals. This Dalmatian Vet Kit is one of our favorite toys. We actually have two! One that we purchased, but also we got gifted this set shortly after we purchased it! Lucky us, right? We thought it was perfect because our dogs are black and white so we could draw a parallel between the importance of vet care for them and our toy black and white dalmatians. It’s such a great kit because it has a stethoscope, brush, syringe, thermometer, food bowl, medical tray, pair of tongs, mirror, hammer, blood pressure cuff, pair of scissors, an ear examiner and pair of tweezers. It’s a very comprehensive kit and it’s only around $20. It is so adorable watching her play with it and we actually get to chat about why it’s important to take your pet to get regular check-ups and how going to the doctor for humans and our pets is essential.

It also helped a great deal while our dog, Lucy, who I mentioned above was sick. She had a lot of regular check-ups towards the end of her life and we were able to explain to Veena that just like when she plays with her vet kit and works to keep her stuffed dog healthy, we were doing that for our Lucy.

In regards to books, here are our top books we have in our home about animal rescue. We adore these books. Since we are big advocates for animal rescue and animal adoption in our family, we thought these books would punctuate those values and also help teach compassion for animals. We try to teach Veena that there are a lot of animals who need homes and that when you give an animal a home, it means forever. They become a part of the family. It’s been really nice reading these books together because we get to talk about how all animals deserve kindness. They deserve food, water, shelter and most importantly, love. Some of these are a bit above her age range, but we still try to read them. I’m always surprised how she’ll engage even in something above her age range. Her favorite right now is Can I be Your Dog and Rescue & Jessica.

A few of our children’s books about animal rescue in Veena’s collection.

Raju the Elephant That Cried: This is the true story of Raju, the elephant who cried tears of joy when he was rescued by Wildlife SOS. James and I had the pleasure of visiting this amazing wild animal sanctuary while visiting my family in India. I can vouch for the incredible work that they do and some of the proceeds from the purchase of this book goes towards their efforts. We can’t wait to visit again and take Veena with us. Elephants are such gentle giants and it’s really nice to introduce to children that all different types of animals can be rescued. Not just dogs and cats. Wild animals too.

Before You Were Mine: This book is so very sweet. It’s about a boy who imagines what life was like for his rescue dog before he adopted him. It goes through what his dog’s life was like, but then ends with all of that doesn’t matter now because his dog is finally home. I liked this book because we got to talk about what our pet/animal’s past lives might have been before finding their forever home. Def. a book that helps your children think about more than just the joy of rescuing a pet.

My Name is Bob: Street cat, Bob and street musician, James are a match made. I really liked how this book highlighted what it was like to be a street cat and then, the beautiful friendship between James and Bob. This is a true story that is so heartwarming.

Esther the Wonder Pig: Two Dads, Steve and Derek adopted mini pig, Esther. However, they had no idea she wouldn’t be so mini after all. Anyone who knows me, knows I love pigs and how emotionally intelligent they are. It’s been so much fun to read this story with Veena and marvel over how big Esther gets and all her shenanigans. They move from their small apartment to a farm that eventually, becomes the Happily Esther After animal sanctuary, home to rescued animals of all kinds. You can also follow Esther on social media. It’s one of my favorite accounts and I sometimes show Veena what real life Esther is up too!

Can I Be Your Dog?: This picture book is the perfect book for Veena’s age. It’s about Arfy, a homeless mutt who writes letters to everyone on Butternut Street trying to secure a home. Unfortunately, he gets letters back rejecting him until a very special letter surprises him with his forever home. I can’t say enough great things about this book! Veena loves the letters, the sweet surprise at the end and there are call to actions at the end of the book on how you can help homeless pets. I also like that we get to talk about the postal service and letters since kids nowadays do so many things electronically. Highly recommend this one.

Rescue and Jessica: This is Veena’s favorite book to read and it makes me so happy that it’s her go to when it comes to reading stories about animals. This book not only highlights the service dog industry, but it introduces Jessica’s character and how she ended up in a wheelchair. It’s been really great to read a book about someone with a physical disability and having Veena recognize that and also, how service dogs can play a huge role in someone’s life. Veena always marvels at all the ways Rescue helps Jessica and all the things they can do together. I absolutely love that this book is a true story about partnership and friendship, overcoming challenges and pure love. There is a picture of Jessica and her real life black Lab and best friend, Rescue at the end of the book that Veena gets so excited about every time we get to it. Parents/Caregivers you HAVE to get this book.

Operation Rescue Dog: A touching picture book, about Alma, a lonely child and Lulu, a lonely dog that come together and find warmth, companionship, and love in each other. This is a really creative book because we follow both Alma and Lulu’s journey to find each other. I loved that this book features a diverse family and of course, stresses the importance of animal adoption.

Lost & Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey: I applaud this book because it teaches children about the struggle of refugee families and the love we have for our pets and how they are treasured family members. This true story of Kunkush’s journey, a lost cat and how he reunites with his refugee family will melt your heart. I like how this gently introduces children to talking about these types of families and how community can come together to help one another through compassion, hope and perseverance.

I hope some of these suggestions help you and your family start talking about having compassion for animals, how to be kind, how to think outside of ourselves and in turn, have your kids develop that empathy that we need to make the world a better place for all creatures. If you have suggestions of toys/books we need to include, please shout em out! We love adding learning toys/books to our family collection. If you purchase one of these and enjoy it, I’d also love to hear from you. Sound off in the comments below or send me a message. Happy playing/reading and cheers to raising kind, loving and empathetic humans.