This Tuesday Tale is a little different. I would like to start off with a tale about Judith. Please watch the video below.

This month teachers are celebrated and shown appreciation for what they do for children. Some of you know that I work around children and today Chipotle Restaurant was offering “Buy One, Get One.” A deal only for teachers. I came home with a veggie burrito and a veggie salad. Mmm, mmm, good! Dinner taken care of. 🙂

Is this post seeming to be all over the place? Well, there is a point and hopefully I’ll pull it all together.

So, what does the video above have to do with teachers? Well, you may have read some of my other posts talking about a program called “RedRover Readers.” This is a program that shows teachers how to teach empathy towards animals to children. One of the books in the program is called “Buddy Unchained.” I wrote about this and my experience reading it to some children in my post: “This Tuesday’s Tale: Buddy Unchained”. Do you see where I am going here? The video above is an example of what a dog can be going through left chained and no one stepping in to help.

Children may not have a pet at home or they might have one but their parents do not treat it well. So then how are they going to learn empathy and about how animals should be treated?

Actually, if you think about it, we’re all teachers! We teach our own children about life and right from wrong, we help teach our grandchildren about the world (and how grandparents always have a stash of candy), our pastors teach us about the bible, and even animals teach us as this article talks about: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Better Human Beings.

Teachers are wonderful, there is no doubt about it. But to me, those who also teach empathy toward animals are incredible! This world doesn’t just need smart people who grow up to make a lot of money. It needs kind, caring, empathetic people. (By the way…I am not tooting my own horn. I am not a full-time teacher. I work at a place with children and at times I am in the classroom as a substitute)

Kudos to teachers! As for Judith in the video above, God bless her! I am so glad she was rescued and I am sickened that she had to spend 10 years on a chain. Not only that but had to endure the people who kept her there peeing on her. Disgusting!

If any of you ever see a dog that is on a chain often, please take the time to see if that dog needs help.

I‘ll end with a video of children discussing how they think about animals after some RedRover Readers lessons. This truly is important stuff!