CHILDREN AND ANIMALS
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:
1,000 selected elementary
schools are now evaluating Best
Friends, a curriculum guide developed
by the American Kennel Club. The
guide “introduces elementary school
students to the world of purebred dogs
and teaches responsible dog owner-
ship,” according to a press release.
Included are lesson plans in the areas of
reading, writing, math, art, and oral
presentation. After the trial period, the
guide will be offered––free––to all
schools. For details, call 212-696-8336.
The Polaris Animal Prod-
uction and Care program at the
Polaris Career Center in Middleburg
Heights, Ohio, trains high school stu-
dents to work with live animals in the
pet industry. The unique two-year,
three-hour-a-day program was founded
in 1975. The Polaris Career Center is
an option offered to juniors and seniors
in five regional school districts.
Protests against donkey bas-
ketball in upstate New York had mixed
results as February turned into March.
West High School in Corning cancelled
a scheduled game, but a game at
Spencer-Van Etten High drew a record
crowd. Spencer police ticketed the bus
hauling the donkeys for a variety of vio-
lations of state animal transport laws.
An interactive exhibit called
The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly:
Attitudes Toward Animals is on display
at the Museum of Science in Boston,
Massachusetts, until May 23. Assem-
bled by the Smithsonian Traveling
Exhibition Service, it previously
appeared at the Austin Nature Center,
where Laurie Nichols of the Austin
Natural Science Association described it
as “an effective way of helping many
people, adults and children alike, begin
to examine their attitudes toward ani-
mals as well as their actions.”
