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In the last 20 years, humane education (HE) has undergone a paradigm shift from a simple animal welfare education model to a teacher-led positive education approach that cultivates kindness, love, and empathy in children and youth. While teachers' humane attitudes are considered a prerequisite for HE program success in school settings, their attitudes toward animals have received little attention to date. This study investigated pre-service teachers' humane attitudes toward animals and assessed whether and to what extent these attitudes are correlated with empathetic tendencies as well as variables such as gender and current and previous pet ownership. A total of 226 pre-service teachers in Hong Kong completed the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) and the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). The results showed that pre-service teachers showed moderate concern for the humane treatment of animals, and a difference in humane attitude was identified based on sex: female pre-service teachers tended to express more humane attitudes than their male counterparts. Moreover, pre-service teachers with greater tendencies toward warmth and compassion demonstrated a more welfare-oriented attitude toward animals. The results of the current study support using HE as a positive education approach and imply that the provision of training for pre-service teachers and teachers should be given higher priority by humane educators. Humane educators are recommended to recruit pre-service teachers as HE program instructors in their research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A canine-assisted reading program, a form of animal-assisted intervention (AAI), is a goal-oriented program that incorporates trained animals – particularly canines – in formal human services. In recent decades, the positive effects of human–animal interaction in supporting the social, psychological, and physiological needs of humans have been expeditiously evaluated and compiled. In the field of education, there is also an emerging body of research of the effectiveness of canine-assisted reading programs. It is suggested that reading to a calm, non-judgmental, well-trained canine companion makes the process and practice of reading both meaningful and enjoyable for children. Drawing on humanistic theories of motivation and current studies exploring AAI, this article suggests that a canine-assisted reading program could be extended to benefit the population of children with special educational needs (SEN). The use of trained canines as an addition to dialogic reading, which is an established, evidence-based reading program, is also introduced in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]