What you can do

Any age

Know the signs

biology

Signs an animal may be neglected: no food or clean water, no shade or shelter in heat or storms, a coat matted with filth, open wounds or a limp that is not treated, ribs and hips showing, or a dog chained with no relief. Do not argue with the owner or go onto their property. Write down what you saw, where and when.

Noticing carefully and telling the right person is how most animals get help.

Sources: Florida Statutes 828.12

Photo: Ajznponar, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

Bradenton, FL

How to report in Manatee County

history

If an animal is in danger right now, or someone is hurting it, call 911. For neglect or cruelty to pets and farm animals in Manatee County, contact Manatee County Animal Services (find the numbers on the county's animal contacts page). For wildlife, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Alert line, 888-404-3922. Students: tell a parent or teacher, who can make the call with you.

Living somewhere else? Search for your county's animal services and save the number in a family phone.

Sources: Manatee County: Find important animal contacts; FWC Wildlife Alert

Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

For families

Adopt, plan, protect

economics

Before getting a pet, ask: who feeds it, walks it and pays the vet for its whole life? Shelters and rescues have dogs, cats, rabbits and birds waiting. Spaying or neutering prevents unwanted litters, and a microchip brings lost pets home. In hurricane season, take your pets when you evacuate; Florida now makes leaving a dog tied outside in a disaster a felony.

Write your family's pet plan for a storm: carrier, food, records, a pet-friendly shelter.

Sources: Florida Senate, SB 150 (2025)

Photo: Terence Starr, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Grades 3 to 12

Help out: humane education

economics

Many shelters welcome young volunteers with an adult; ages and rules vary, so ask. Classes can read to shelter dogs, collect towels and food, or make blankets and toys. Knitters and crocheters: the knitting and crocheting rooms in this museum have simple squares that make good shelter blankets.

Service learning counts. Plan one class project and measure what it gave.

Sources: Lamby: Crocheting room

Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Class activity

Where do you stand?

historyeconomics

Use the line below. One end says 'Animals are ours to use as we choose'; the other says 'People should not use animals at all'. For each question, place yourself, then write a claim, the strongest counterclaim, and one piece of evidence from the cards in this wing. Move if the evidence moves you.

The goal is not to win but to give the best reason on each side.

Sources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Moral Status of Animals

Photo: U+1F360, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Class norms

Disagree well

history

In one class there may be a farmer's child, a vegan, a hunter, a future veterinarian and someone whose grandmother's medicine was tested on mice. Rules for this debate: argue with ideas, not people; use evidence from a named source; restate the other side fairly before you answer it; and no one has to share a family's job or diet.

A good debate leaves everyone understanding the other side better than before.

Sources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Photo: Tsaag Valren, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Know the signs

How to report in Manatee County

Adopt, plan, protect

Help out: humane education

Where do you stand?

Disagree well

Where do you stand?

Room quiz