Almost 6,000 pupils in West Dunbartonshire schools were given lessons in animal welfare last year.

The Scottish SPCA visited 27 schools, reaching 87 per cent of the area's pupils, through its Scotland-wide ‘Prevention through Education’ programme

It was the highest percentage of any local authority in Scotland.

The animal welfare charity believes it can prevent animal cruelty issues in future through educating children on responsible animal welfare today.

New data from the SPCA shows its education officers reached 245,058 children in Scotland through school visits and events such as the Royal Highland Show.

The charity visited 1,269 schools (61 per cent) across the country and engaged with over 239,000 primary school kids on domestic, wild and farm animal welfare issues through its free Prevention through Education programme.

The charity’s education team also reached over 3,000 adults.

Head of education and policy, Gilly Mendes Ferreira, said: “Our free ‘Prevention through Education’ programme is one of the most vital aspects of the Scottish SPCA’s work.

“Our ground-breaking education programme fits in to the Curriculum for Excellence, most notably by helping children to develop in to responsible citizens within their communities.

"The service we provide is set to expand in the years ahead as we aim to engage with as many children and adults as possible to provide a better understanding of animal welfare.”

Since 2010, the Scottish SPCA has seen an increase of over 300 per cent in the number of calls from children alerting the society to an animal in need of help. These calls have helped to save lives and uncover cases of neglect.

Research in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh has shown the ‘Prevention through Education’ programme has increased knowledge, positive attitudes and children’s beliefs in animal welfare and decreased tolerance towards animal cruelty.

Interested schools can find out more information at scottishspca.org/education/ or email education@scottishspca.org.