Animals in the Classroom: Issues and Alternatives

At then end of every school year, shelters across the country are inundated with hamsters, mice, rabbits, gerbils, fish, guinea pigs and reptiles who are no longer needed or wanted in the classroom. Many teachers believe keeping an animal in the classroom is a good way to foster responsibility, teach respect, or raise awareness about animals. But the learning environment can turn sour when the classroom pet becomes too big a burden and must be surrendered to the local animal shelter. Despite teachers good intentions, keeping a classroom pet puts the animal at serious risk for neglect and substandard care.

Welfare
Once animals are in the classroom, important aspects of their nature are ignored completely. For example, hamsters and most other small mammals are nocturnal, yet they are kept in brightly lit classrooms and removed from their cages during the day. Birds tend to be sensitive to drafts and changes in air temperature, but climate control is normally regulated by the students comfort levels, not the animals.

Classroom pets are often neglected during school breaks and holidays. Many suffer from missed meals, unsanitary living conditions, and lack of climate control. If left alone for a weekend, pets can be literally starving or dehydrated come Monday morning. A fire or power outage can also be deadly to an animal who is left alone in a building overnight or on weekends.

Filling the role as classroom pet or school mascot can be extremely stressful on an animal. Going from five days of noise and attention to two days of isolation is particularly traumatic and confusing. Constant poking and handling can also be very taxing on an animal.

Health
In addition to concerns for animal welfare, keeping animals in the classroom poses serious health risks for students. For example, children can get salmonella poisoning from handling reptiles. Also, students with asthma or allergies can be adversely affected by the presence of an animal in the classroom.

The animals¡¦ health can also be compromised when caregivers fail to address their nutritional and environmental needs. Inadequate veterinary care also leads to failed health of classroom pets. Many animals succumb to death in classrooms, which is not only a terrible fate for the animal, but a devastating experience for students. 

Alternatives
Fostering responsibility and teaching respect are important components of a child's educational and personal development. Classroom pet duties, however, are not an appropriate method for instilling these values. The learning process is inherently filled with mistakes and failures, which are appropriate in normal life circumstances. But when an animal is used as the learning tool, a child's simple mistake could result in the suffering of a dependent animal. 

There are far more constructive ways to learn about living beings than by keeping animals in the classroom. Here are some suggested alternatives:

• Observe animals in their natural surroundings. Visit parks, wildlife sanctuaries, or nature reserves.
• Sponsor a polar bear, manatee, or farm animal. Many animal protection organizations have sponsorship opportunities for endangered species and several animal sanctuaries do the same for abused farm animals.
• Take a trip to your local animal shelter or wildlife rehabilitation center.
• Invite an animal specialist to speak to the class and possibly bring an ambassador animal.
• Create a nature habitat in or around the school to make the environment more welcoming to animals.
• Let students be the teacher. Encourage them to share stories about their companion animals at home.
• Bring animals into the classroom by using animal-related books, magazines, and videos.