Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.
Your Pet, Our Passion.
Child cuddling ginger cat

Responsible Pet Ownership

Children are the pet owners of the future, therefore it's necessary that they're given invaluable education about responsible pet ownership.

Our goal

By 2023, 2 million children will have participated in our responsible pet ownership programmes.

Our achievements to date

92% achieved

In 2020 a total of 1,846,129 children across France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia and Spain have been educated on responsible pet ownership via our programmes. We also partner with many different types of organisations to help us deliver these programmes in and out of the classroom.

As children are the next generation of pet owners, it’s important that they recognise the benefits and receive pet education.  The aim of our digital Responsible Pet Ownership programme, ‘Pet School’, is to improve the lives of both young owners and their pets. It teaches the children how to approach a pet, how to understand its behaviour and how to care for, feed and groom it. The programme runs in 6 of our top ten markets and is available in many languages.

Our point of view

At Purina, we believe that when people and pets bond, life becomes richer and that there are multifaceted benefits to pet ownership. Children are the next generation of pet owners and it's important that they recognise the benefits and receive pet education in order to understand how best to behave around them. Pets teach children life lessons of responsibility, showing affection and respecting boundaries.


We want to ensure that as many children as possible across Europe learn about responsible pet ownership, including how to approach a pet, how to understand their behaviour and how to care for, feed and groom a pet. At Purina, we're shaping the responsible pet owners of the future.

 

Having the experience of being with pets can be thrilling and emotional, especially for children.

Purina Experts

 

Existing programmes

Across Europe, we have had many countries running successful, responsible pet education programmes for many, many years.

In Italy, for example, the ‘Scuola di Petcare’ has been running for 10 years, educating roughly 250,000 primary school children and their families about the benefits of responsible pet ownership.

We have similar programmes in France, Russia and Germany to name a few. 

Building on Nestlé CSV

Just as we are committed to improving the lives of pets and the people who love them, our parent company Nestlé is committed to enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future for individuals and families, our communities, and the planet.

Read more about Nestlé in Society

CASE STUDY: National Animal Diploma Day

In the Netherlands, on World Animal Day in 2019, the foundation Met Dieren Meer Mens organised ‘Nationale Dierendiploma Dag’, a day where schools can join to take the Dierendiploma and Purina sponsored this event. Dierendiploma are digital lessons to teach children aged 8-9 years old how to take care of pets in a responsible way. The lessons were created to allow teachers to integrate them easily into their own lessons. Schools could also enter a contest to win the opportunity for a celebrity to give the Dierendiploma lessons in their school. It was a highly successful day with 1,962 children taking part and receiving their Dierendiploma certificate. 

Woman holding up Cat
Our impact
Our commitments
We're dedicated to improving the lives of pets and those who love them, which is why we've made 10 commitments to achieve by 2023.