Teachers' Pack

 Choosing a pet

When choosing a pet, children (and their families) should consider their reasons for wanting an animal and ensure that they include a strong interest in that animal, a desire to love and cherish their pet and an over-riding commitment to care for that animal for the whole of its lifetime.

Next, they must decide upon what sort of animal suits their lifestyle. Parents must intervene here if necessary since an animal will affect home life. They should consider how much time their pet will take up and what space it requires. Remember that cats and dogs can be quite dirty. Cats in particular will bring home live and dead animals, walk from their litter tray to the kitchen work tops and claw furniture. Cats and dogs shed hair, which can trigger asthma in some people. They may also carry potentially serious diseases such as toxoplasmosis, a parasite spread through contact with faeces, which can cause blindness in children if ingested. This can be avoided by regularly worming your pet, the prompt removal of faeces and always washing your hands before putting them anywhere near your eyes or mouth after handling your pet cat or dog.

Once a family has decided upon a particular animal as a pet, they should consider all the points in the checklist opposite to ensure they are making the right choice.

Ultimately, the question is not whether you will be happy with your pet, but whether your pet will be happy with you.

Sheet 6: Choosing the right pet

Invite the children to look at and colour the pictures on the activity sheet. Discuss the issues raised. Ask them to tick whether they agree or disagree with the statements. Discuss what makes a good pet. Ask the children to divide a blank page in half. On one half of the page they should draw a pet animal and write a sentence about why it makes a good pet. On the other half of the page they should draw a different pet animal and write a sentence about why it makes a bad pet.

Sheet 7: My favourite pet

Read the page entitled ‘Exotic Pets’ with the children and discuss. Then ask them to colour and cut out the pet animal pictures, and arrange them in order of preference, so that number 1 is the animal they think will make the best pet, and number 10 is the one they think will make the worst pet. Go around the class asking the children to justify their choices. As a follow-up activity, make a bar graph of the class results, or ask the children to make a neat version of their list and illustrate it.