The Case For Animal Protection Curricula in Schools in Hong Kong

In a city like Hong Kong where animal protection laws replicate outdated British legislation from the early 1900s, extensive educational measures must be taken to raise students’ collective awareness of animal welfare and rights, in order to meet the pressing environmental, social, and moral demands of a rapidly developing society. This article argues that the study of animal protection in Hong Kong school curricula is essential to raising future generations of responsible and empathetic community leaders and members. Not only can such curricula encourage students to make well-informed, healthy, and environmentally-conscious choices as consumers, it also challenges the speciesist “hidden curricula” perpetuated in schools, developing students’ critical and independent thinking skills and empowering them to regain ownership over and accountability for their decisions. It instils empathy in students towards animals, as well as vulnerable groups in society that share a similar narrative of oppression and exploitation, such as women and ethnic minorities. This article refutes the critique of animal protection curricula being a form of indoctrination by challenging the notion that any education system can be truly value-free.

OpenSecrets.org, 'Dairy' (Center for Responsive Politics, 2019) <https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=A04++> accessed 30 May 2019. 18 Andrzejewski,Baltodano,and Symcox (n 2). 19 ibid. 20 World Health Organization, 'Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat' (WHO, October 2015) <https://www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/> accessed 30 May 2019. 21 Peter Singer, 'Speciesism and Moral Status' (2009) 40 Metaphilosophy 3-4, 572. 22 Andrzejewski, Baltodano, and Symcox (n 2). Northumbria University -ISSN 2632-0452 -All content  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that humans only have 12 years to limit climate change, and global warming beyond 1.5°C would significantly worsen the risks of extreme heat, floods, drought, and poverty for hundreds of millions of people, animal agriculture becomes a dire threat to animal and human species alike. 23 Despite these findings, Hong Kong schools -in the same way as schools in other countries including the United Kingdom and United States -continue to endorse the habitual and unconscious consumption of animal products, skirting their responsibility to equip students with the knowledge to make well-informed, conscious choices as consumers and citizens who will face the impacts of climate change in their lifetime. Under the existing paradigm, not only are schools threatening students' physical wellbeing as a result of a lack of animal protection education in school curricula, students are also unable to decide for themselves whether they want to opt-out of an entrenched system of animal oppression and environmental destruction. They cannot identify whether these cruel and unsustainable behaviours are congruent with their espoused values, as they take speciesism and the division between man and animal as a given social construct. Their lack of knowledge allows ethical gerrymandering to thrive. 24 In the long-term, schools are encouraging the continuance of anthropocentrism behaviour which contributes to the worsening of climate change. This type of irresponsible education has led Hong Kong people on average to eat 664 grams of meat per day, which is more than three times the daily recommended amount of meat 25 ; in fact, it is primarily meat consumption that has led Hong Kong to become the seventh highest emitter per capita in the world 26 , especially given that 90% of Hong Kong's total food supply is imported, with 94% of fresh pork and 100% of fresh beef imported from Mainland China. 27 23 Jonathan Watts, 'We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN' (The Guardian,8 October 2018) <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report> accessed 31 May 2019. 24 Lori Marino, 'Ethical Gerrymandering in Science'(2011)  Although the status quo is far from ideal, there is great potential for animal protection curricula in schools to alleviate the problems canvassed above. Hong Kong is uniquely positioned for the introduction of animal protection curricula, as its animal welfare laws are in the midst of development. A three-month public consultation launched by the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department was running until mid-July of 2019, and new animal welfare laws aiming to introduce the legal concept of a duty of care to animals are expected to come into force in 2021. 28 During this renewal of Hong Kong society's commitment to animals, students have the potential to be agents in the evolution of a complete reform of Hong Kong animal protection laws. 29 However, in order to do so, they must have the knowledge and skills to advocate for change, which is the gap that animal protection curricula aims to fill. and Chinese society, so that a Western worldview is now the accepted cultural norm. 32 These thought processes are conducive to culturally universal thinking, as students are able not only to learn about and critically evaluate their own traditional heritage, but also become more wellinformed on other countries' practices.
Finally, as a pioneer in Asia and a leading international city, the inclusion of animal protection curricula in Hong Kong schools would send a clear message to other countries to place greater focus on strengthening their own domestic animal laws, so as to ensure that animals are wellprotected from exploitation. 33 This is especially pertinent in Asia, where animal brutality remains rampant, bear bile extraction and elephant rides being two of many examples. Taiwan's recent introduction of a 12-year compulsory animal protection education to its national school curriculum in January is an important step forward in Asia, and Hong Kong should follow Taiwan's initiative in order to establish its place as a champion in animal welfare in the region. 34

Why Animal Protection Curricula is Important: Benefits to Students
Building Active Citizenship Skills Animal protection curricula in Hong Kong can develop students' active citizenship skills, as they are prompted to take ownership and agency over their individual choices. Such curricula is beneficial to all students, since vegetarian or vegan students also lack the information to support or defend their decision not to eat meat when challenged by others. 35 Knowledge of animal welfare gives students complete control over their choices 36 , so that they have an opportunity to actively align their consumption habits with their own beliefs and provide evidence-based and logical 32 Kerr (n 29) 37-38. 33 Luisa Tam, 'As a pet-loving city, Hong Kong should step up efforts against animal abuse' (South China Morning Post, 7 January 2019) <https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2180967/petloving-city-hong-kong-should-step-efforts-against-animal> accessed 1 June 2019. 34  justifications for doing so. 37 Ideally, this information-exchange would create a butterfly effect, whereby through word-of-mouth or actions, students would share their knowledge with their communities, compelling those around them to regain control over their consumption habits. There is evidence that environmental education received by children indirectly influences their parents' recycling habits 38 ; similarly, students who study animal protection may also be able to influence their parents' consumption choices.
However, whether students ultimately change their diet to vegetarianism or veganism and become more environmentally-friendly is not the only aim of the curricula. Instead, what is most important is that each students' preconceived notions, which previously reinforced man-made systems of ecological destruction and unnecessary brutality towards animals, are subject to in-depth deliberation and scrutiny. 39 Even if students decide after careful thought to continue their habits of animal consumption, they are at least doing so with pointed thoughtfulness. They are aware of the consequences of their actions and may even account for the negative effects of their consumption in other ways.
In this sense, they take more responsibility for their actions than someone who is completely unaware of how their actions are impacting the environment, animals, and other humans, because they are not intentionally excusing their behaviour and ignoring challenging ethical questions, but instead have confronted their own moral conscience in making their lifestyle choices. 40 Even a small change in each student's animal consumption habits could have a large positive impact: a recent study found that as long as Hong Kong people limit their meat consumption to the recommended daily amount of 180 grams of meat, fish, and eggs per day, Hong Kong's livestock- On the contrary, students who feel moved to take personal actions to improve animal welfare have the opportunity to cultivate a compassionate and harmonious lifestyle, based on an informed and nuanced choice. 42 This curriculum would be a powerful form of experiential learning, as students see first-handed that they are capable of being agents of change through their everyday actions. It could include a multidisciplinary study of intersecting issues between all species cohabiting Earth, while covering policies and practices that respect animals, and ethical and socially responsible everyday habits of respect and advocacy for all people, animals, and the environment. Students could also be given the chance to interact directly with animals, which has been shown to be an important contributing factor to animal protection and welfare knowledge acquisition. 43 The knowledge that their actions can and do make a difference can generate feelings of empowerment and hope, which may catalyse leadership, active citizenship, and initiative-taking as the students grow to become community leaders of Hong Kong.

Encouraging Critical Thinking and Challenging Assumptions
Animal protection curricula can prompt critical thinking about speciesism and sustainability, as students are encouraged to re-evaluate their closely-held moral beliefs and behaviours towards animals that they have been taught by their parents, schools, and the society to practice and accept passively. 44 Rather than perceiving animals as a subjugated classes who are helpless to the strong will of mankind, curricula covering animal protection and welfare would challenge the prevalent assumptions and ignorance surrounding animal sentience and intelligence, thereby creating visibility and closeness between students and animals and giving students the chance to question news sources which endorse animal exploitation. 45 For instance, students may have assumed that language set humans apart from animals, while in fact, animal behaviour research has shown that animals use language to communicate amongst each other as well. 46 Additionally, rather than elevating themselves from non-human species and the rest of nature through an instrumental, that the same idea of sentience that is used to prevent human suffering is similarly used to prevent animal suffering, and thus the basis not to abuse animals and fellow men are theoretically dependent. The paramountcy of animal sentience has been picked up in law as well, representing a step forward in animal welfare, at least in theory: Regionally, Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that animals are sentient beings, thus conferring a duty on member states to consider animal welfare in implementing policies. 52 Domestically, states may also pass legislation that recognise animal sentience; for instance, the section 53 of the 1988 Swedish Animal Welfare Ordinance refers to the requirement of anaesthesia for vertebrate animals who may undergo "physical or mental suffering". Therefore, it is no surprise that the language used to justify animal suffering has also been employed to validify human suffering, especially to target vulnerable minority groups in society.
Simply put, the victimisation of animals has acted as a model and an inspiration for the victimisation of devalued humans. 53 In fact, the use of animals for human purposes without any consideration of their individual interests is so pervasive that it has become invisible to us, in the same way that the exploitation of racial and sexual minorities and women continues to be invisible in many countries around the world. 54 An obvious example is the intersectionality of speciesism and racism. Racist propaganda has compared groups of people to animals to suggest that they belong to a subhuman species, for example, in the case of slavery. However, it would be erroneous to claim that such rhetoric is no longer utilised; even today, Hong Kong is not immune to this phenomenon. As one of the most homogenous international cities, with more than 92 percent of Hong Kong's population being Han Chinese, prejudice against ethnic minorities remains a problem; in fact, 6 in 10 Hong Kong residents think prejudice against ethnic minorities is common. 55 57 , is an illustration of how racist propaganda uses animalistic language to dehumanise people and enlarge societal divisions.
Another example of the intersectionality between social justice and animal issues is speciesism and sexism. The role of women and animals are similar in the patriarchal social order, that is to be exploited for their femaleness and serve as docile objects for the possession, use, and pleasure of men. 58 Female animals are doubly abused in animal husbandry: their reproductive capacities are first exploited in order to produce milk and eggs for human consumption; then, when their reproductive efficiencies end, they are brutally slaughtered for their flesh. For instance, dairy cows face appalling treatment by the dairy industry, as they are forced to serve as industrial milking machines. Starting at 15 months old, dams are forced into a "rape rack", where they are artificially inseminated. 59 This sexual violence is a form of "systematic cruelty" 60 and is part of a greater problem of the sexualised violence of the powerful over the vulnerable, of men over women. 61 Similarly, women in Hong Kong are objectified because of their femaleness: 1 in 7 women will experience sexual violence in her lifetime. 62 Women are overexploited in the workplace also: they Northumbria University -ISSN 2632-0452 -All content CC-BY 4.0 are paid HKD$15 less than men for doing the same work. 63 On top of that, women are expected to perform many hours of housework to serve their husbands and children. This type of "shadow labour" is not remunerated as the work is done in the private sphere of the house, and so does not have the same status as paid work. Taking a strong stance against speciesism could conceivably have a knock-on effect on sexism given their conceptual dependence, as it may send a message that women, both animal and human, are not objects to be abused and exploited. 64 A final example is the intersectionality of speciesism and classism. Historically, meat production and consumption were symbols of social status and was a tool for capital accumulation. 65 This trend continues today, as agribusiness industries continue to function in the interests of elite, wealthy business owners and exploit humans and animals for profit-maximisation. Animals' bodies are often modified to optimise their productivity, through artificial insemination, mutilation, and genetic manipulation. For example, dairy cows' tails are often docked, that is a partial amputation of up to two-thirds of the cow's tail 66 , supposedly because it prevents disease and conveniences milkers, despite the vast evidence that tail docking causes distress and pain of chronic levels due to common inflammations and infections at the lesion. 67 Similarly, workers in these agribusiness industries are exploited and made to work in unsanitary and dangerous conditions. In the United States, most farm work is performed by undocumented immigrants, who are paid subsistence wages and have to endure long hours of taxing work in subhuman conditions, with little or no rest days, no health insurance, and no benefits; since most farm work is unregulated by the Government, there is nothing that the immigrant workers can do Northumbria University -ISSN 2632-0452 -All content CC-BY 4.0 to enforce their labour rights. 68 Although no evidence of similar abusive practices in Hong Kong has emerged, Hong Kong imports a percentage of its eggs (19%) and frozen pork (6%), chicken (23%), and beef (16%) from the United States 69 , thereby generating a demand for animal products tainted with such exploitative labour practices, so the problem faced by farm workers is not completely alien to Hong Kong consumers. Resistance to cruelty to animals is therefore simultaneously resistance against corporate power and the classist economic system that allows abusive, exploitative practices towards both humans and non-human animals to continue without any end in sight. 70 These three perverted paradigms reflect how time-old, oppressive human-animal relations from which racism, sexism, and speciesism arise are grounded in capitalist economic systems of greed and profit-maximisation, whereby human labour and animal bodies are exploited to grow the wealth of the elite 1%. 71 It is inevitable that human exploitation of animals directly enables and fuels exploitation of human victims. If we feel that we can exploit non-human animals because we are more powerful than they are, and we judge that we can benefit from their exploitation, the same logic can and will be used to justify discrimination other disadvantaged groups; discrimination against other humans becomes that much easier. 72 The introduction of animal protection curricula would fundamentally challenge exploitative human practices towards animals, developing higher levels of empathy towards animal species, and in turn, towards humans. 73

Encouraging Human Moral Growth
Animal protection curricula allows students to achieve Dewey's conception of human moral growth, defined as the constant expansion of horizons to welcome "alien" points of view, and consequently, to form new purposes and responses based on new perspectives. 74 As students 68 Sadhbh Walshe, 'Field work's dirty secret: agribusiness exploitation of undocumented labor' (The Guardian, 31 January 2013) <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/31/agribusinessexploitation-undocumented-labor> accessed 31 May 2019. 69 Food and Health Bureau (n 27). 70 Andrzejewski, Baltodano, and Symcox (n 2) 145. 71 Andrzejewski, Baltodano, and Symcox (n 2) 142. 72 Andrzejewski, Baltodano, and Symcox (n 2) 146. 73 Kelly L. Thompson  This creates a transformative and educative venue for self-discovery, development, and improvement, in which lies the opportunity for human moral growth. 75 Once students have the knowledge to think critically about their own practices of animal use, they are in a better position to confront their cognitive dissonance of, on the one hand reliance and enjoyment of animal products, and on the other hand the suffering and exploitation which is inseparable from the production processes. 76 They are able to make conscious, deliberate actions and live an intentional and active life instead of being possessed by "unthinking habits", which marks an ascent of human moral growth. 77

Furthering the Ideals of Humane Education as a Whole
The introduction of animal protection curricula play an instrumental role in humane education, by contributing to the role that humane education should occupy to promote compassion and respect for "the other", be they human or non-human animals. 78 Humane education has been revisited by schools recently, due to increased calls for students to receive character education. 79 It focuses on individual traits including tolerance, honesty, and kindness, and an ability to think independently, which have been described as the "best qualities of human beings". 80  Another important function of humane education in the form of animal protection curricula is that it raises the level of discourse among Hong Kong students to generate increased awareness of the "violence link", which states that animal abuse has a desensitising effect and leads to violence towards humans. 82 More importantly, such curricula also acts as a vehicle to prevent this "violence link" from perpetuating continually, by fostering traits of empathy, mutual respect, and responsibility in students towards all forms of life and the environment. 83 Studies have found that children who are routinely exposed to animal protection curricula and humane education over a period of time, for instance through learning about companion animals in their school curricula, have higher levels of empathy 84 , improved social skills and self-esteem, and are also less prone to violence, as they can demonstrate usage of non-violent conflict resolution methods. 85

Interspecies Education and Peace
What makes interspecies education through animal protection and welfare curricula in Hong Kong schools even more powerful is that it fosters peace. As an extension of the "violence link" argument, philosophers including Mohandas Gandhi, Mildred Norman, and Anna Kingsford have argued that widespread animal exploitation breeds the necessary mindset for domination of others and waging of wars. 86 The acute level of violence required to abuse and slaughter an animal to turn it from a living, sentient animal into the edible "meat" we see on our plates is synonymous to the violence and bloodshed required to turn a living man into a dead soldier on the battlefield. The mental processes and logic that one uses to justify harming innocent animals can equally be used Northumbria University -ISSN 2632-0452 -All content CC-BY 4.0 to justify war against an "enemy", who is often first demonised, vilified, and put on par with animals. Indeed, as Tolstoy wrote, "As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields". 87 Therefore, the value of introducing animal protection and welfare curricula in Hong Kong is that students will feel empowered to model non-violent values in their daily lives, thereby taking concrete steps towards preventing violence and wars in the future.

Brainwashing Students and Exploits Their Growing Social Awareness
One critique is that animal protection curricula which cover animal welfare exploits the growing social awareness of teenagers and their concern for the helpless. Such curricula are not usually tempered with knowledge of the invaluable part that animals play in improving human health, for example, through animal testing, or students' personal experiences with disease and death. Instead, teachers of the subject often go too far, by promoting an animal rights agenda during unrelated class activities, for instance during a discussion of civil rights. 88 Students are therefore misguided into making premature, rash decisions; they are effectively brainwashed into supporting the animal protection and welfare agenda.
A simple reply to this objection is that no single Hong Kong school curriculum is value-free. 89 Anthropocentrism is itself a value which brainwashes students, manifesting itself in silence and omissions in current school curricula. 90 From the way that schools separate humans and animals in value education, to the absence of animal ethics and welfare in textbook materials or choice of study visits, the selective focus is itself a manifestation of anthropocentrism. 91 One example is that an exclusive focus on human language in the human-centred epistemological framework in schools 87 ibid. 88 Deborah Runkle and Ellen Granger, 'Animal Rights: Teaching or Deceiving Kids' (1997)  "forgets" the nonverbal communication of animals and their own linguistic capabilities 92 ; here, an apparently neutral study in fact supports a "hidden curriculum" of speciesism. 93 Another example is that animals are dealt with almost entirely within the natural sciences, where they are studied in terms of biological facts. 94 This distinction between human and animal is illustrated through a Primary Two curriculum proposed by the Curriculum Development Council in 1994: "Animal world" and "weather" are labelled under the "Natural world", as opposed to "people who serve us" and "my friends" which are nested under "Living environment". 95 Even when animals are discussed in Secondary classrooms, learning exercises focus exclusively on protecting endangered plants and animal species 96 which, despite being a pressing issue, is exclusionary towards farm animals. Rarely, if ever, do teachers discuss the reality of factory farming or animal sentience. 97 As a result of this, animals are seen primarily as species representatives, rather than sentient, feeling beings. 98 Thus, it is clear that Hong Kong school curricula are themselves exploiting students' growing social awareness, by keeping them in the dark about the impact of widespread animal and ecological exploitation on their future livelihoods and pushing a one-sided anthropocentric agenda. To eliminate bias and ensure that students gain a rounded perspective, it is necessary for schools to include animal protection in their curricula, so as to balance the anthropocentric perspective that is currently dominating the curricula. Another critique is that animal protection curricula in Hong Kong schools would shift the focus of students from pressing human problems to unimportant non-human problems, when in fact students should be trying to solve human problems before worrying about non-human problems that do not affect them. 99 This is a false dilemma, as the discussion of the moral standing of animals is part of a larger project of human moral growth, and part of the troubling status quo of oppression, exploitation, and abuse of power exhibited towards all minorities, human and non-human animals alike. 100 As such, problems associated with the moral standing of animals are not only problems for non-human animals but for humans as well. 101 Moreover, the human moral consciousness is not limited. As our collective consciousness expands with increased human moral growth and rapid technological expansion, all ethical problems should receive renewed urgency and should not be prioritised according to whether it involves humans or non-human animals. 102 Such a prioritisation is artificial, as humans are intricately linked with animals and the environment. As human activity continues to destroy the Earth, students must start to consider sustainability as not only the continued existence of the human race, but also the sustenance and flourishing of the ecosystems of plants and animals, all of which are necessary to support human development. A mindset that is capital-focused and driven by artificial shortage and competition is precisely what the exploitation of animals and minorities has nurtured over time, and students must take a proactive approach to subvert this mindset.

Conclusion
To conclude, it is apparent that animal protection curricula would bring many benefits to students in terms of their physical, mental, and moral growth. Although the SPCA Education Department gives talks on the topic of "Love and Concern for Animals" 103 and offers a Humane Education