Lauren Hytinen

Marlinne Pichardo (left) and Choua Kathy Vang show their poster.

When Stephanie Hagopian started educating inner-city students at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, R.I., about animal fighting, she discovered they already knew a lot about the subject.

"A couple of students had witnessed what they described as organized animal fights," said Hagopian, state director for The HSUS in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Hagopian's presentation was part of a unique after-school program called Pets and Vets, an eight-week course given by the Providence After School Alliance, the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association and the Roger Williams Park Zoo. The course teaches students, ages 11 to 14, how to properly treat pets and other animals. It also exposes the students to careers in animal care and welfare.

Pets and Vets is offered at six Rhode Island schools. It is so popular that 100 students are on a waiting list to get into the program.

By the end of Hagopian's presentation, the children decided on a special project: They would make homemade posters to warn fellow students against animal fighting. They planned to hang the posters on the walls at school.
 
"From meeting Stephanie, they wanted to get involved in talking with other students about how animal fighting is wrong," said Lauren Hytinen, education instructor for the Roger Williams Park Zoo, and a teacher in the program.

Hagopian used curriculum from the Humane Society Youth program to educate students, which included showing the students a dogfighting video that wasn't graphic.

"I was really happy to see how many students were interested in animal welfare," Hagopian said. "We talked about them reaching out to family and friends to try to stop animal fighting, and make people aware of the penalties. In Rhode Island, the penalties are steeper for spectators at an animal fight than they are for the people organizing the fighting."

Hagopian is planning more outreach to New England schools, in hopes of educating a new generation of animal lovers who will fight cruelty in all its forms.