Christine Giles has been nursing this duck back to health.
By Melissa Grant
KEYSBOROUGH animal shelter president Christine Giles is urging schools to reconsider using living animals as teaching aids after discovering a duck used in a student project was malnourished.
Ms Giles, who is also president of the Australian Animal Protection Society (AAPS), has been caring for the duck since it was handed into the shelter.
She said the duck was notably stressed and had been starved of appropriate food.
“When I first brought it home it would just walk back and forth quacking,” she said.
“It eats mainly bread, and, although the school denies it, it certainly wasn’t fed properly.”
Ms Giles said the duck was one of about 40 used for a recent student assignment at Cheltenham Secondary College.
She was worried students had regularly been taking the ducks to and from school during the project.
“Having owned ducks for years I know how stressful it is for them to get carted around,” she said.
“A dog you can cart around, but not a duck.”
Ms Giles said the use of animals in schools, especially chickens, was a growing concern.
“It’s giving the wrong message to children. They think it’s educational, watching the bird hatch and all that … but when they grow no-one wants the roosters,” she said.
RSPCA executive manager of animal welfare Jo Lindley said it usually wasn’t necessary for schools to use live animals as part of their curriculum.
“It’s not really appropriate because the things they are teaching they can teach without the animals,” she said.
Ms Lindley said staff and students rarely knew how to properly care for farm animals.
“I don’t think teachers or students necessarily know what’s best for the animals,” she said.
She said the use of animals in schools wasn’t common, but it was still a concern.
“From time to time you do hear about mistreatment. Problems arise if they haven’t been well socialised or well cared for,” she said.
Cheltenham Secondary College principal Peter Corkill said students who took part in the duck assignment had been adequately informed about how to treat the animals.
“We are committed to treating animals with respect and consideration and ensuring the appropriate level of care and instruction is provided in the classroom,” he said.
“In this particular case, extensive care notes were distributed … and written agreement was obtained.”
Ms Lindley said the Department of Education would introduce an animal ethics policy to oversee the activities of all live animals used in schools as early as next year.
She said every school would have to apply to the Education Department before using live animals, and those approved would have to abide by strict guidelines.
