The Constitutional Court has noted that: "Animal protection safeguards the moral status of humans and the degeneration of human values." Animal protection is dependent on human ethics, integrity and empathy. To nurture and develop these qualities of good citizenship, our programme invites learners to learn and perform the Five Freedoms Puppet Show for Animals, a programme that supports animal welfare and also enhances their reading ability and empowers them to make a difference for the better in their communities. The Five Freedoms for Animals takes about three terms to learn and become proficient as puppeteers, and fits into Life Skills. The Five Freedoms for Animals is endorsed by the World Organisation for Animal Health and is part of the United Nation's One Health programme. Social scientists believe that empathy erosion is at the root of our troubled and violent world, making our programme all the more essential. Mrs Warda Conrad, Director of Business Strategy and Stakeholder Management at the WCED has seen our programme in action and has said: "The department is focusing on values in education and I would love to see this programme extended into other schools as well." Using a Life Skills lesson on a once-a-week basis achieves wonderful proficiency by the end of the third term and follow-up questionnaires show that the children retain the knowledge gained by our programme and spontaneously extend it to other animals.

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