San Antonio, TX– PAWedu is proud to announce a new National Responsible Pet Owner (RPO) online course. The new course is designed as a broad, more general animal welfare course designed as a tool to rehabilitate and change the behavior of those convicted of animal cruelty offenses and teach offenders to be more humane to animals. The course has been developed as an affordable and effective alternative to incarceration or fines to be used anywhere in the United States or abroad, that is not specific to the laws of any particular state, but does cover U.S. Federal law.
“We are thrilled to bring our successful Texas course to a national level to give courts an effective tool to rehabilitate offenders. There is finally a growing awareness of the link between animal cruelty and potentially violent or abusive behavior against humans. It is critical to identify and treat these offenders at the earliest opportunity,” said Ami Gordon, President & Founder of PAWedu.
In 2017, the Texas Legislature recognizing the effectiveness of online education as a tool for prevention, passed House Bill 162 to authorize courts to use online education for animal cruelty offenders and to license such courses. In 2019, the PAWedu RPO online course became the first and only state-certified course in the nation. The Texas RPO course is licensed annually by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and is specific to the animal welfare laws in the State of Texas.
Ms. Gordon added, “The National Course is based on years of successful experience with our Texas RPO course. The course was developed through collaboration with lawyers, psychologists, judges and animal welfare advocates. As a lawyer, I am all too aware that animal cruelty statutes are often lightly enforced. We are thrilled to offer another tool for judges to use when addressing crimes against animals.”