César, teacher and head of academics at the Orba de Muel school as well as the leader of the “El Cuarto Hocico” R&S group, tells us how the twelve students participating in this R&S group, the major figures of this story, made it happen.
We would like to join this group in encouraging children around the world, regardless of their country of origin, to take part in this initiative to raise awareness on the animal abandonment issue. Would you like to create an online Animal Protection Association at your school? Contact these kids and they will tell you how easy it can be to broaden this network of online associations!
Congratulations, members of the Cuarto Hocico R&S group!!
Note: We would like to thank the Sustainability Office of the University of Sevilla for advertising this initiative: http://sostenibilidad.us.es/index.php?id=400
In César’s words:
THE DAY ANIMALS
HEARD CHILDREN SINGING CHRISTMAS CAROLS
“Tell me, grease-stained dog, who do you belong to?
I belong to whoever wants me. Take me to your home.”
That’s how the Cuarto Hocico’s Christmas Carol “Tell me dog, who do you belong to?” begins.
December 17th was a very special day. On that day children's voices could be heard through the wind and the cold and little dogs and cats could hear those voices full of hope.
The Cuarto Hocico’s boys and girls—who manage an online Animal Protection Association at the Muel school—gathered their banners and coats and made their way towards the main square in Zaragoza, to where the El Corte Inglés store is. When they got there, they tuned their voices and began to sing Christmas Carols with an animal theme which they had previously written at school. Under big snowflakes made of light bulbs, they spent the evening handing out stickers and singing in favour of animal adoption and against animal purchase.
Spain leads the ranking of European countries in terms of animal abandonment; more than 200,000 animals are abandoned each year. It is at Christmas when more animals are purchased on a whim at large stores and shopping malls. People stop by to watch puppies through the shop windows and are only able to see how cute they are. Beyond that image there are responsibilities towards a pet, something many children don’t know when they ask for a puppy. In a matter of months the puppy will grow, it will require someone to attend to its needs, it will bite or scratch things—which is completely normal for cats and dogs—and it is then when abandonment occurs in many cases.
The twelve children from the Cuarto Hocico group, aged between 10 and 11 years old, have been advertising the “An animal is not a toy” campaign for weeks. They launched an international poster competition in order to raise awareness among all schools about this issue and encouraged children from other Spanish cities to follow this initiative and gather together in their hometowns.
Many children showed their support and many teachers encouraged their students to support this campaign. There were also parents accompanying their kids and singing along.
On that Saturday many animals heard their voices. Many adults did too. On that Saturday the members of the Cuarto Hocico group and many animals went to sleep feeling cold due to the low temperatures but otherwise happy.
Our fight has not concluded, however. This is only the beginning. If you think you can change things for the better and make the world a better place for everyone—animals included—then you only need to contact us at elcuartohocico@gmail.com and become a Cuarto Hocico ambassador in your school.
Together we will change the world, we are sure of it! Maybe we don’t realize it right now but in a few years we’ll be able to see the benefits for animals and humans alike. Doing something to help others without asking for anything in return makes us better human beings. You only need some initiative to rise up and say “I’m going to do something today.”
Check our blog and get information about our activities at:
We have a couple of projects at the international level this year and we need determined people!
We want you to join us!
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