The Animal Science Shop at Worcester Technical High School is getting ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, a bearded dragon, turtles, snakes and frogs for Animal Science students to practice feeding, cleaning and other handling skills on live animals.
In the Animal Science Shop, seven different animals will soon arrive, and be well taken care of. They will have ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, a bearded dragon, turtles, snakes and frogs. According to Ms. Eastman, Animal Science teacher, the purpose of these animals is for the students to learn how to “maintain medical, cleaning, feeding, and enrichment records.” The animals, she says, “will be used to learn proper handling and restraint of exotic animals so our students are well prepared for jobs in husbandry, education, and veterinary care.” There is a lot of responsibility that comes with these animals. Animal Science students will learn from and take care of these animals to the best of their ability.
The Animal Science Shop will work extra hard to keep these animals maintained and healthy. According to Ms.Eastman, the Animal Science students will be keeping “enrichment records” and other records that tell them how the animals have been cared for that day. If perhaps an animal were to get sick, the students and faculty could look back at the records and figure out what may have caused the illness. Things that could help the students is to look at what the animal ate or if we cleaned the cage/tank that day it might aid them in figuring out the cause of the illness too. Fingers crossed, the Animal Science shop doesn’t ever have to see any of their soon arriving animals become ill and uncomfortable.
Animals need different enrichments to stimulate their senses and keep them thinking and moving throughout the day. It is important to see if the animals have had their necessary activity and stimulation throughout the day so this makes enrichment records important. Whether it’s stimulating the animals senses to seem as if they’re in the wild or hiding a treat so they can problem solve and find a way to get to the treat, it’s very important for these animals to get any form of enrichment. By using these animals, students in this shop can have more hands-on lessons that will help them understand these animals more than if they were just reading about them. This is very important for the Animal Science students since they need to know these basic skills to excel in their future.
These animals will be well taken care of, and don’t fret, they have a great area to live in as well! This Worcester Tech shop now has the old Environmental shop room as a part of their shop. Using this additional space, Animal Science will definitely have more than enough space for these animals to be happy. According to Ms. Eastman, Animal Science students “have been working very hard to get the classroom prepped for our animals.” All of these animals will have the space to enjoy their life to the fullest, which is all the Animal Science shop hopes for.
The Animal Science shop teachers chose certain animals as pets that, according to Ms. Eastman, “are hardy” and will stay “safe” and happy in our shop. Each kind of animal will live in its own space. The shop already has tanks and cages designated for each individual kind of animal. They have three guinea pig cages, a ferret cage, and tanks for the reptiles. Some of these cages are meant for transportation, as some mammals will need to be cared for everyday. According to Ms. Eastman, they will be taken to “caretaker homes during the weekend.” On breaks, all these animals will need to be taken home with a caretaker, as well. They will be as happy and healthy in these caring homes as they are in the classroom.
In conclusion, to answer the question if Animal Science is really getting pets, the answer is yes. They will be getting a few different kinds of species and they will be properly taken care of by the students. These animals will help them learn proper handling and restraint and it will also prepare the students for jobs in this industry. According to Ms. Eastman, “The classroom animals that we will have in our shop are going to be used to enhance lessons for our curriculum.” These pets will help the Animal Science students to further understand the topics found in their textbooks. The animals aren’t going to be leaving anytime soon- luckily, they will be here to stay. Students look forward to getting these pets as they will soon be a part of the Animal Science shop family.