Question:
What do you think? It's nice to know that there are animal organizations "rating" the suitability of pets in the classrooms
http://spca.bc.ca/rightpet.htm


Answer:
ooh, yes it is!
but i havent been in a class yet with a classpet
i would love to take care of it!
(especially if its a guinea pig )


Answer:
I agree with each of their recommendations. Our shelter has a Humane Education Program that visits schools in Ottawa. It's very successful because most children LOVE animals... and for those that aren't fortunate enough to have their own pets at home, they look forward to the visits. I don't know if I agree with having a classroom pet there all the time. (It would have been very distracting for me when I was a kid!) That's just my opinion though. Guinea pigs, rats or rabbits are the best choice though...
What happens to the pet at the end of the year? Does the teacher take it home on the weekends & holidays? If the teacher was totally responsible for it and brought it back & forth to work each day and kept it for the duration of its life.. then I would have no problem with it. I know of an incident in my nephews classroom where at the end of the year the teacher gave the guinea pig to one of the kids to keep. The kid talked his no-good parents into getting a partner for him and now they have more G. pigs then they know what to do with and he's run out of friends to SELL them to. That was his whole purpose - to make some money off them! Where is his parents in all of this??? They couldn't care less... He's a friend of my nephew and I was over there a couple of weeks ago and he brought the mom & dad pigs over to play... their nails were extremely long so I cut them for him. I showed him how to do it and he said that he knew how but his father wouldn't let him use his nailclippers. I told him to get on his bike and go to the dollar store and buy a pair. (he has an allowance)... Why am I the 1st person to see that something is wrong with this situation? Anyway, that's my reason for wanting the teacher to be responsible for the pet. Either that or talk to the parents first and make sure it's a suitable home.


Answer:
Lisa, do you plan on having a classroom pet?


Answer:
Sue, that is horrible. If the parents aren't prepared to be completely responsible for the pet, their kids shouldn't have one because so many kids get bored of their pets or just forget to take care of it.
I had a classroom pet in 6th grade. It was a gerbil and from my recollection it was well taken care of. Our teacher took it home on weekends and during the summer. We had it for at least two years (it was there when I was in 5th grade).
I really like that site but on the other hand, if you have researched the animal well, shouldn't you already know that? Maybe not...


Answer:
You would think! Especially about the turtles & hamsters... you'd have a bunch of kids with salmonella and hamster bites from disturbing his sleep... hehehe


Answer:
I do not really agree with having nocturnal animals in the classroom...especially with younger children. Some say that you can "reverse" their sleeping pattern but I'm not sure about that.


Answer:
We had rabbits at my kindergarten but I attended a Catholic kindergarten where the nuns lived on the school grounds so they had people there all the time to take care of them. That's the closest thing to a classroom pet I've had, classrooms in Singapore don't allow animals, probably distracts the class


Answer:
i do not think that pets belong in a classroom.................too many loud kids will make any pet neurotic...............
I especially do not believe in keeping a bunny in a classroom......i think bunnies belong in homes where they get time out of their cages several hours a day..........
I knew of a classroom bunny that the teacher took home for the summer and placed on his patio..............a nice large cage but right in the heat?????????????? the bunny died of a heat stroke this summer............I think he was 2 fries short of a happy meal when it comes to taking care of pets.............I am sure even he could kill a dust bunny..............
i think pets belong in homes with responsible adult or older children


Answer:
2 fries short of a happy meal
That is hilarious.