Greater Victoria schools consider banning pets in the classroom

Greater Victoria school teachers keeping Hammy the hamster or Spot the dog as a classroom pet for education could be prohibited from doing so if one school trustee has her way.

The Greater Victoria school board voted on a motion by trustee Diane McNally on Monday night that the school board take into account the position of the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The organization opposes animals kept as classroom pets — unless the teacher already owns the animal — as well as school breeding and hatching programs that use incubators and artificial environments.

After a debate, the school board voted unanimously to consider the SPCA’s position and send the motion to a policy subcommittee to research the issue of “classroom pets” and draft a policy statement.

That draft policy will be sent to the district’s superintendent to develop administrative regulations and procedures to be reviewed and voted on by the school board, said chairwoman Edith Loring-Kuhanga.

The debate included the view that animals in the classroom can provide many educational experiences, Loring-Kuhanga said.

She cited salmonid enhancement projects in which salmon eggs develop in incubators and are then released into the wild.

Others raised concerns about how classroom pets are cared for on weekends and evenings, whether they are left in the classroom during real and practice evacuations, and how students with allergies cope.

The B.C. SPCA’s position is that any classroom animal be removed from buildings during any emergency evacuation or drill.

“This is not the case in classrooms now,” McNally said.

“The actual plan is to leave the classroom pet behind. … Is this teaching compassion?”

McNally ended her 22-year teaching career in 2011.

“As a teacher, I never kept an animal in my classroom, but have had to intervene in situations to prevent harm to fish and small animals, for example, stopping students throwing a hamster back and forth,” she said.

“Some animals are sent home for weekends and longer holidays with a different student each time, a major stressor for the animal.”

Loring-Kuhanga said many classrooms have pets.

“I believe that we can have a policy and regulation that addresses the concerns without sacrificing the educational and therapeutic value of having pets and animals in the classrooms.”