Starting an Animal Club at School

Animal Advocacy Starts with You

Want to gain leadership skills and fight for animals with your friends? Create an animal advocacy club or choose an animal protection issue for your civics project!

Many students are passionate about animal welfare but are unsure how to help and where to start. Creating a club in your school or starting with the civics requirement is a great way to join forces with others with a similar passion for helping animals.

Before you begin your advocacy journey, here are some tips to jump-start your own club:

• Find a few students who love animals and see if they want to be a part of the founding group
• Meet with your school counselor and ask how to become an officially recognized club
• Ask a teacher to be your faculty advisor
• Set up a time and place where you will hold your first meeting
• Spread the word by talking with peers before or after class, hang up fliers and post on social media to let other students know
• Connect with Leaders for Ethics, Animals, and the Planet (LEAP) to discover how you can create a compassionate alternative to 4-H, where students build meaningful relationships with animals and learn to care for them in sanctuary settings

Once you hold your first meeting, create a club name and discuss animal issues that you would like to work on with your peers. Some student groups focus on one issue at a time while others work on multiple at once. Each club is unique, so do what is best for your school!

Here are some examples of issues to work on for your club or civics project:

• End dog breed discrimination
• Stop the sale of commercially bred animals at pet shops 
• Ban the sale of new fur products in your city or town 
• Promote higher welfare standards for farm animals 
• Educate your community on how to humanely coexist with wildlife 

Club Activities 

There are many ways your club can advocate for animals at your school and within your community, whether it is by posting on social media or hosting an event. Every little action counts!

• Teach group members how to become successful advocates and have everyone contact their representative on specific animal legislation 
• Create an Instagram or TikTok account and post about group events, upcoming club meetings and animal issues in the news
• Host screenings of animal welfare films
• Hold a pet supply drive for your local humane society
• Raise money for animal welfare organizations
• Invite an organization to speak at a club meeting

If you have any questions while completing your civics requirement please contact advocacy@mspca.org.