02-14-2009, 06:18 PM
Contacting the board and the administration is a great idea. Way better than the idea of having a "school" dog. This is a lousy idea.
I'm all for school spirit, so don't get me wrong. But the last live bulldog mascot (an English Bulldog) that used to make special appearances was the personal pet of a staff member who kept it from the puppy stage to the end of its life. They are not talking about doing something equivalent here - the proposed plan is to have a different family "host" the dog each year. Bad idea.....cruel, actually.
And liability issues....whew, don't even get me started. And while they mentioned that it could hang out with the special ed. kids, it's not going to be a dedicated service animal or therapy dog, which requires special training. Actually, they are high-energy dogs with huge exercise needs. Without that, it will become destructive and a distraction in class. Again, why would you bring a breed with aggressive tendencies in with strange kids? Or what about the kids at sporting events who just can't resist the urge to pet a strange dog.....horrible idea! Dr. Hamlin will be long gone and this dog and the school will be suffering the consequences of this stupid, ill-conceived decision.
I'm all for school spirit, so don't get me wrong. But the last live bulldog mascot (an English Bulldog) that used to make special appearances was the personal pet of a staff member who kept it from the puppy stage to the end of its life. They are not talking about doing something equivalent here - the proposed plan is to have a different family "host" the dog each year. Bad idea.....cruel, actually.
And liability issues....whew, don't even get me started. And while they mentioned that it could hang out with the special ed. kids, it's not going to be a dedicated service animal or therapy dog, which requires special training. Actually, they are high-energy dogs with huge exercise needs. Without that, it will become destructive and a distraction in class. Again, why would you bring a breed with aggressive tendencies in with strange kids? Or what about the kids at sporting events who just can't resist the urge to pet a strange dog.....horrible idea! Dr. Hamlin will be long gone and this dog and the school will be suffering the consequences of this stupid, ill-conceived decision.