Controversy over a supposedly pedagogical children's activity that consisted of painting a horse 2026

A new controversy about possible animal abuse is in the news these days. The news takes us to Brazil, where a woman named Ana Paula Vasconcelos, a member of the NGO Order of Lawyers of Brazil (OAB), denounced on social networks the supposedly “playful” and “pedagogical” activity carried out in a camp at the Equestrian Riding School of Brasilia, capital of the Federal District, through which a series of students, children of different ages between three and fourteen years old, they painted a horse called Thor all over his body.

The event, recorded entirely on video, took place during some camps held at said school when those in charge suggested that the kids paint the animal in different colors, leaving its legs, back and face covered in scribbles as we can see in the photograph.

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The OAB, as soon as it heard the news, shared the photograph on its networks, warning that possibly, and if higher bodies see it pertinent, they will take legal measures by denouncing the school for animal abuse. Ana Paula, who reported all this, denounced the situation, calling it absurd and alleging that “The school had the brilliant idea of ​​using the horse as a painting canvas, saying that it would be a pedagogical activity (…) they said it was a rescued horse, but that does not justify it, the cruelty is the same.”

But... What reaction did the school have? Obviously, for the sake of their image, they were quick to respond. In this way, the company's marketing manager, Muriell Marques, has defended the school, claiming that the paint used by the children was not toxic or dangerous and that the animal was calm. Likewise, the school has defended itself by saying that the activity was a "playful approach" of the children to a horse, calling the reported "unfair controversy" since, they alleged, "the activity produces positive effects, since the most suspicious children lose their fear of the animal," explained the spokesperson.

Is it or is it not animal abuse?

Labeling this act as animal abuse is left to each person's thinking and criteria, but what is clear is that it is very dangerous to teach children an animal with a clear inclination to use it as an object with which to have fun. We are talking about a living being.

Furthermore, there is no type of pedagogical or didactic justification in this controversy. Painting an animal has absolutely nothing pedagogical, there are many other ways to bring children closer to an animal without, therefore, having to consider a living being as a canvas-object with which to have fun.

Regardless of whether the animal is stressed or not and regardless of how the horse may feel, it is clear that going through this does absolutely nothing good for the animal. Therefore, it is totally unnecessary.

There is a brutal and consistent fight to avoid animal abuse, this, like everything, has to serve in the first place to change the outlook and information that the new generations have. Children have a mind susceptible to actions and what we show them can largely determine the thoughts they have in the future. Educating a child by making him think that, in the defense of his entertainment, he can paint an animal unjustifiably, will promote a lack of empathy towards other living beings that can lead to him normalize the abuse towards them in the future, promoting the awareness that we can use whatever we want as an object.

Social networks have echoed this, with massive rejection by many users denouncing that there is a powerful lack of animal respect in this fact.

As a consequence of all this, prosecutors from the Brazilian Environmental Institute have opened an investigation into the school, which must now present the pedagogical plan that justifies the activity, in addition to a veterinary-level evaluation of the center's animals.