Four guinea pigs die at school
Four guinea pigs at Annette Street Public School were found dead on Monday morning. Their deaths were likely caused by an unexpected increase in the heating there, according to the Toronto District School Board.
A fifth guinea pig, named Olaf, made it out alive, because he was not at the school on the night of the overheating.
“Caretakers were in the school during the day and reported no issues with either the heat or the pets at the time,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said in a written statement to the Star. “The animals were in enclosures on tables away from the heat sources, and with enough food and water for the weekend.”
The problem is being investigated by TDSB staff, said Bird, who added that a new heating system was installed in October and it “has experienced some fluctuations in temperatures.”
Bird said that he could not produce a list of any other schools retrofitted with new heating systems.
Nancy Keenan, the school’s principal, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Emily Simpson, a parent of an 8-year-old girl who attends the westend school, said she was told that heat went up to about 40 degrees, a circumstance she called “upsetting.”
“Because guinea pigs are coldweather animals they’re very heat intolerant, and so they basically died from heatstroke,” she said.