Classroom pets?

Fins us on Amazon
Shop with us on Ebay
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
V

victoria

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
4,614
Location
Montreal, QC
As a general rule, I think classroom pets are a horrible idea. They're neglected over the weekends, don't receive proper care and they're often homeless come the end of the school year. All in all, it reinforces the idea that small animals are disposable to children.

Keeping that in mind, I received an the following email this week:

Hi there!

We are looking to adopt a few mice and/or hamsters for our preschool.
We were wondering if you guys can provide a cage or whether we have to
buy our own.

Also, would it be possible to visit and see which small rodents are available?


It took me a while to come up with a diplomatic reply (and I had a ton of other emails) and when I did reply, I following response:

(My reply)

We don't recommend gerbils, mice and hamsters (especially) for young children because they are so fragile and can easily be hurt or scared to death by excited children handling them. In the case of hamsters, they are prone to biting, particularly if handled during the day.

The keeping of classroom pet(s) is generally not in the best interest of the animal(s). They often do not receive care over the weekend and find themselves homeless when summer holidays come around. There's also a risk that they will be suddenly displaced if a student has an allergy.


There are organizations that do educational work with animals, they may be a better resource to teach the students about animals and pets and responsibility.

and her response:

Actually, we already have gerbils and the kids are great with them. Our educational program (Playing to Learn) requires us to have small pets in each of our classrooms, but we would like to have something other than fish and gerbils. Can you recommend any other type of smaller animal that might be a better fit?



Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences/recommendations? I don't think they would meet our criteria for adoption no matter what but whatever I reply is going to influence their decision.
 
Not that small but ...
A medium sized dog that is good with children,
one of the breeds that fewer people are allergic to,
and it would live with and go home with the teacher at the end of each day.
 
We had hissing cockroaches for our class pet, they belonged to one of the student's parents....not exactly cute and cuddly though.

I can't really think of a small furry caged-type animal that would do well with, kids; frequent transport or being left alone for a weekend; etc. Maybe they could foster for a rescue if the animal was one that did well with transport and the teacher was willing to bring it home/care for it.

Or if they are willing to go with something the kids can't interact with but is pretty cool they could get Marbled Crayfish. They are easy to take care of and are a great learning opportunity because they do something that most animals can't, they self clone. (They can often be found on fish trade websites like Aquabid.com and are not very expensive.)
 
Way back in the day, my 7th grade teacher had both corn snakes and hermit crabs as classroom pets. Uh, don't recommend the snake - she made a big deal about feeding it live mice in front of us, and that traumatized me as a kid.

Hermit crabs are pretty cool though, and they do that shell swapping thing which is neat to watch. Relatively low maintenance too. Some don't mind crawling in your hands, but a couple were a little pinchy.
 
I was thinking hermit crabs but my issue is, if any animals are ever sick, can they be left unattended on the weekends? Even if they're not, is it in their best interested to be unattended 1/3 of the week? I don't see any scenario where it's ok to regularly leave animals alone. Unless it is a personal companion animal of a staff member that comes in for visits, I don't think it's in the best interests of the kids.
 
tell them to grow flowers or herbs. I hate the idea of pets in school but we did get 3 that way so that could be why.
 
Yeah, but a hermit crab= one drop and it's gone. I say we should all email the dumb organization with our complaints. Would you be able to get a website or something about the program, maybe from a school website? A program like that doesn't even teach children responsibility.
"Look here Tommy, this has to be fed and cleaned everyday, except on weekeds, summer/winter/thanksgiving holidays and hurricane days. Also, as you can see, it is very dificult work- taking care of a pet everyday- and we will try to show you this. You get to feed it about once a month, because at your house when you beg a dog out of your parents, it will be the same way. 20 people, taking care of one animal."

The only way I can see pets in the classroom as possible, is if a teacher brings in her dog/cat. Jeez.
 
I purposely didn't post the organization's name because I know barraging them with critical emails will be counter productive. It's a common practice in this province and parents send their kids to these programs because they have these policies. Remember they contacted a rescue and didn't go to a pet store - classroom pets are common here and most programs just go to pet stores to get theirs.
 
Ugh, I always found that so distressing. So nice to teach kids that animals are disposable and can be thrown away when you are done with them :(.

They didn't respond to the no care on the weekend part of your request. Can you go back to that, and talk about the possibility of them adopting an animal, bringing it in as their pet, then taking it home with them? Still not ideal, IMO, but much better for the animal.
 
This is my draft reply. Please don't hate me for the story about my gerbils, I was 12 and not allowed to keep them in my room.

Gerbils are good companion animals for children because they are social and adjust their schedule to sync with our own. Of all the rodents, they're one of the species that least prone to illnesses and they can be kept in tanks without adverse effects on their health. While they may be ideal in a classroom setting, a classroom setting is not ideal for them. If they fall ill or suffer an injury on the weekend or holiday it could mean they don't receive prompt medical attention and that is not fair to them. Even a water bottle malfunction can have fatal consequences after 2.5 days. Additionally, because they enjoy the company of humans, it's stressful for them to not have that interaction.

I did discuss recommending gerbils with a colleague before replying but we agreed and I know from personal experience that it can be dangerous. I got gerbils from my sibling's daycare when I was a teen and one died because my toddler siblings had a tug or war with the cage fighting over who would play with them. I know at least one of the gerbils at their daycare suffered a similar fate.

I'm hesitant to recommend any species because all companion animals should be tended to daily. It's unquestionable that they would lose out if they didn't have one primary caregiver and didn't get attention 7 days per week year round. If you have staff members that are open to adopting a companion animal and bringing them in for educational purposes that would be best. I can answer any questions you may have about species specific care for small mammals but we will not adopt animals into institutional environments where they don't receive daily care.

Thank you,

Victoria

I was going to offer to bring in my rats and do an activity but then I realized there are liability issues and I'm a representative of the SPCA, so that would not be a good idea.
 
victoria said:
This is my draft reply. Please don't hate me for the story about my gerbils, I was 12 and not allowed to keep them in my room.

Gerbils are good companion animals for children because they are social and adjust their schedule to sync with our own. Of all the rodents, they're one of the species that least prone to illnesses and they can be kept in tanks without adverse effects on their health. While they may be ideal in a classroom setting, a classroom setting is not ideal for them. If they fall ill or suffer an injury on the weekend or holiday it could mean they don't receive prompt medical attention and that is not fair to them. Even a water bottle malfunction can have fatal consequences after 2.5 days. Additionally, because they enjoy the company of humans, it's stressful for them to not have that interaction.

I did discuss recommending gerbils with a colleague before replying but we agreed and I know from personal experience that it can be dangerous. I got gerbils from my sibling's daycare when I was a teen and one died because my toddler siblings had a tug or war with the cage fighting over who would play with them. I know at least one of the gerbils at their daycare suffered a similar fate.

I'm hesitant to recommend any species because all companion animals should be tended to daily. It's unquestionable that they would lose out if they didn't have one primary caregiver and didn't get attention 7 days per week year round. If you have staff members that are open to adopting a companion animal and bringing them in for educational purposes that would be best. I can answer any questions you may have about species specific care for small mammals but we will not adopt animals into institutional environments where they don't receive daily care.

Thank you,

Victoria

I was going to offer to bring in my rats and do an activity but then I realized there are liability issues and I'm a representative of the SPCA, so that would not be a good idea.
Click to expand...


excellent letter :bow: :bow:
and far more diplomatic then I could have been. This is for a preschool!! are they nuts?!?!

I think the plants idea is great (although it hurts me to think of neglected plants it's definitely not the same as a neglected animal LOL)


the idea of a classroom pet for a preschool seems insane to me

My daughter's classroom had a turtle of some kind, but it belonged to the teacher and went home on the weekends.
that was a 6th grade class, no lower grades would have gotten permission to have an animal living in the classroom.
 
henry's_mum said:
here's a PERFECT example of what happens to classroom 'pets'
http://peterborough.kijiji.ca/c-pets-ot ... Z430963541

unless the teacher her/him self is going to commit to caring long term (life of the animal) it should'nt be allowed...
Click to expand...
:yeah: :yeah:

:rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:
so the poor piggie didnt' even have another piggie for company when he was their "pet" eh?

yep, there should probably be a ban on classroom pets! it's awful for the animals and teaches all the WRONG things about the value of life.

:gaah:
 
I sent that reply last night. Looking back, there are some tweaks I wish I'd made but it's too late now. Shockingly, she didn't reply to this email right away... I don't expect I'll hear from her again. Hopefully she thinks twice before getting more animals for the preschool.
 
I'm surprised about the extend of hostility towards classroom pets here. Yes, most classroom pets are horrifically taken care of, but that doesn't mean that all will be. At least open up a conversation with a teacher, and maybe she/he will learn something and take something positive from it.

I know there used to be a teacher on a rat forum who did a great job with pet rats for her class (I can't remember which forum). She had a trio of young rats with full cage setups at both school and home. The entire of the lives of the rats they were used to going back and forth every day, and handled it very well. She managed to create a wonderful, open conversation with her students about proper care of animals. I'm sure her students learned a lot and came out of her class with much better perspectives about being a good pet owner.

I am a teacher. I currently do not yet have my own classroom (I am finishing up my endorsement in SPED) and I will have animals in my classroom. Although everyone here may take great care of their pets, the truth is that the vast majority of my students (and any students) have no idea how to take care of pets. Even though they may not have to feed every day, or have the full responsibility of owning a pet at school, there are great opportunities in the classroom for opening up natural discussions about all of those responsibilities. Kids aren't stupid, we can't treat them as if they won't make the connection between how much they care for the pet at home and how much more that would be at home. Remember, these students are our future. For many of them if they don't learn these skills at school they never will. I became a teacher because I need to help the students of today become the best possible leaders and parents of tomorrow. Empathy is a much needed skill to learn which animals can be a huge help with teaching.
 
I had no issue with adopting either a group of socialized rats or degus if they were going to be taken home by a staff member on the weekends and holidays - this was not the woman's intention.

Every June there are countless rats, rabbits and guinea pigs listed on free classifieds because they were classroom pets and have nowhere to go in the summer. I have been at the vet when a support staff member from private school got fed up of watching a classroom rabbit in the school get sicker and sicker and not receive medical attention that she brought it to the vet and paid out of her pocket to treat urine scalding that became infected. (This is a private school that charges $10,000+ in tuition that isn't willing to pay or vet care.) School boards and government in this province are broke and always looking to cut budgets, unless a staff member pays for vet costs out of their pocket, it's unlikely classroom pets would receive any vet care at all.

My job is to do what's best for the animals in our care and from the content of the emails, adopting them to the preschool was not in the animals' best interest. If you read my messages, I did offer to advice them on proper care of a specific animal if needed and did recommend that if they wanted animals in the classroom, they be the companion animal of a staff member that is brought in on a regular basis. If animals are not being well cared for in the classroom, the lesson students are learning is not one of responsible care of companion animals.
 
Pink said:
I'm surprised about the extend of hostility towards classroom pets here. Yes, most classroom pets are horrifically taken care of, but that doesn't mean that all will be. At least open up a conversation with a teacher, and maybe she/he will learn something and take something positive from it.

I know there used to be a teacher on a rat forum who did a great job with pet rats for her class (I can't remember which forum). She had a trio of young rats with full cage setups at both school and home. The entire of the lives of the rats they were used to going back and forth every day, and handled it very well. She managed to create a wonderful, open conversation with her students about proper care of animals. I'm sure her students learned a lot and came out of her class with much better perspectives about being a good pet owner.

I am a teacher. I currently do not yet have my own classroom (I am finishing up my endorsement in SPED) and I will have animals in my classroom. Although everyone here may take great care of their pets, the truth is that the vast majority of my students (and any students) have no idea how to take care of pets. Even though they may not have to feed every day, or have the full responsibility of owning a pet at school, there are great opportunities in the classroom for opening up natural discussions about all of those responsibilities. Kids aren't stupid, we can't treat them as if they won't make the connection between how much they care for the pet at home and how much more that would be at home. Remember, these students are our future. For many of them if they don't learn these skills at school they never will. I became a teacher because I need to help the students of today become the best possible leaders and parents of tomorrow. Empathy is a much needed skill to learn which animals can be a huge help with teaching.
Click to expand...

quoted for truth. How are kids going to learn animal care if we never give them an opportunity to learn? Right on!
 
It's really not that hard to learn how to take care of animals...plenty of first time pet owners research, then do a great job taking care of animals.

Most "class pets" are not teaching responsible pet care anyway. They are teaching them that the pets are disposable, as they are homeless at the end of the year. Not a lesson I would want my children to learn.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top