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Home > Policy > Classroom Animals

Classroom Animals

Rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, frogs, parakeets, rats, snakes, fish, turtles, and countless other animals who are used as teaching "tools" or class "pets" are abused and neglected in school classrooms around the country.

Students can and do learn about responsibility, animal behavior, and hands-on science without the presence of animals in their classrooms, and there are far more constructive ways to learn about living beings than by holding them captive in hazardous and neglectful school environments.

Paying the Price
One school science kit admits that the question of what to do with snails after they have been used in a classroom observation activity is "a sensitive one." The kit's manual instructs teachers to pass the snails onto another classroom if possible and advises that releasing them into the environment is never an option. If no other classroom adopts the snails, teachers are instructed to "collect them in a bag, euthanize them by placing them in the freezer, and then dispose of them in the trash." The manual goes on to say, "And what do you tell students if they ask where the snails went? Tell them that you returned them to the place where they came from. Let them extract from that what they will." What lesson does killing animals and lying to students about it teach? It certainly does not teach respect, compassion, or responsibility.

The following cases, which involve the abuse of animals in U.S. schools, were reported to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

A snake was stolen from his classroom enclosure and cooked alive inside a school's microwave.
Two chinchillas were brutally beaten and left for dead.
A rabbit in a day-care classroom showed symptoms of illness but was not taken to a veterinarian. He died without receiving care for his condition.
Four pigs had an unknown caustic chemical poured on them, resulting in painful burns to their backs, ears, and necks.
A lamb was stolen from a school agriculture building, spray-painted, duct-taped to the outside of the building, and left alone overnight in freezing temperatures.

Even classroom "pets" can suffer from neglect and abuse. Once animals are brought into schools, their natural tendencies and instincts are often ignored. For example, mice and most other small mammals are nocturnal, yet they are kept in brightly lit classrooms and removed from their cages during the day. Live mice or rats are also fed to snakes and other non-domestic animals so that they can demonstrate "predation" to children who laugh, scream, or turn away.

School's Out! Now What?
When the school year ends, these "pets" frequently end up in already-overworked shelters or at the homes of students who claim that they can provide "good homes." Unfortunately, important screening procedures-such as home checks and interviews with the entire family-are often overlooked by hurried, overworked teachers at the end of the school year, and this oversight can lead to tragic consequences for animals.

Even if a student has behaved responsibly toward animals in the classroom, his or her siblings might be abusive or reckless, or the student might become bored with the animal. Once at a student's home, many classroom "pets" are ignored and deprived of both human contact and appropriate companions of their own species. Students who do not understand the responsibility and time that animal companions require may neglect to fill water bottles, provide food, or clean cages.

What Lesson Learned?
Keeping animals in the classroom teaches the wrong kind of lesson. Rather than teaching responsibility for animals' well-being, allowing animals to be used as "learning tools" lowers their status in the minds of students. Young people make generalizations based on the lessons that they learn from authority figures and can conceive of an endless variety of disrespectful and harmful animal "uses" once they are taught that animals are "tools." Teaching children about the responsibility involved in caring for captive animals ignores the question of whether animals belong in cages at all. Teachers who want to teach students about animals and responsibility should lead discussions about ethical issues such as these, rather than setting examples that encourage children to confine animals for
human use.

What You Can Do
You can encourage a more respectful understanding of animals by asking students to quietly observe animals in their natural surroundings. If your school is keeping animals-either as "pets" or as teaching "tools"-voice your disagreement to the teacher, the administrator, and, if necessary, the school board. Ask your school board to forbid the use of animals in classrooms.

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