4th Grade Pet Detectives

On March 23 the 4th Grade Pet Detectives hosted a series of presentations where they shared important facts about animal abuse and tips for how to care for your pet. They wrote, directed, and edited the video you are about to see. PLEASE share your feedback, we would LOVE to hear from you!! 

The 4th Grade Pet Detectives are planning for their presentation! In this picture they are taping a segment for their TV Show!

                                                                   Puppy Mills                                                                                                     A puppy mill is a place where dogs go and they live in small dirty cages. Little puppies get  seperated from  their mom and they do not see each other. The dogs in cages do not have a chance to go outside their cages. DO NOT BUY PETS FROM THE PET STORES! Instead, buy pets from the nearest local shelter. If you do not buy animals from pet stores 99% of the time they end up going back to puppy mills.                                          

We the Fourth Grade Pet Detectives believe:

You should watch this video because it talks about how you can adopt an animal from your nearest animal shelter. In this video I learned that each year 8 to 10 million animals enter shelters in the USA and a few years later 4 to 6 million animals are euthanized each year simply because shelters run out of space. This is why you should be a responsible pet owner and also adopt pets from the pound (don't buy them from pet stores!). Our project focuses on how to take care of animals to prevent abuse, look for agent R.G's post on how to take care of a pet.        

Click here to watch the video.                                                                                                                    

By Agent A.H

Dear parents of pet owners,

Here are some tips on " how to take care of your pet ":

1. If you ever leave the house overnight, find a pet sitter.

2. Children should not be left alone or allowed to sleep with an animal.

3. Teach your child not to pull ears and tail of your animal, or pinch, squeeze, or make loud noises .  He/ she should never disturb a dog while its resting, sleeping, playing with a favorite toy or eating.

4. Do not allow your pets to lick your child face or any cuts or scratches.

5. Pay attention to warning signs-An animal that is growling or hissing want to be left alone !

6. Make sure you train your pet.

Puppy mills are bad. They are bad because dogs don't eat much and they dont exercise much either.We can stop puppy mills by buying our pets from shelters instead of pets stores. It's a good thing to get your pet from shelters instead of pet stores because if an animal in a shelter doesn't get adopted by people, they have to die.  So save animals.

The Philadelphia Zoo is accepting applicatons for their Junior Advisory Council!

Here is the information from their website:

The Philadelphia Zoo believes there is no shortage of great ideas from children for improving America’s First Zoo. In an effort to capture these ideas and give them voice, the Zoo is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for its fifth "Junior Advisory Council". "Junior Advisory Council 5" will allow approximately twenty children ages 8-14 from communities in and around the Philadelphia region, southern New Jersey and Delaware to have a platform for input from a child’s perspective on Zoo issues ranging from the design and presentation of animal attractions to selecting healthy and tasty menu items in the snack stands, the Zoo’s gift shop and more.

The deadline for applications is February 29, 2012 with selections being made March 15, 2012.

For more information regarding the Junior Advisory Council please contact:

Laura L. Houston
Director Public Programs
Philadelphia Zoo
215-243-5243
Houston.laura@phillyzoo.org

If interested click this link to be sent to the application. Remember the deadline is February 29!

                                 Application for The Philadelphia Zoo's "Junior Advisory Council" 

On Friday January 6, we had a very special visit from Lizzie, the founder of Peace for Puppies. Over the next few days, the 4th grade Pet Detectives will post details about this visit and will also write about  information they learned about Lizzie and her organization. In the meantime, I am posting an interview conducted by two wonderful agents, Agent JDB and ZN. The questions were compiled from a class homework assignment where all of the Pet Detectives had two write 2 or 3 things they would like to know about Lizzie and Peace for Puppies (99.9% of all activities and projects are STUDENT DRIVEN). JDB edited the questions. They were great questions and showed how much the Pet Deectives were thinking about our project and the impact it could have on the lives of others. Please read our podcast and PLEASE share a comment, the Pet Detectives would LOVE to hear from you!

In this article this is about a dog named Curious George. He was lost and hungry. The problem was that the dog was digging in trash cans and he did not have a home.  This was a problem because he was homeless and he was starvingand very skinny. So a woman found him and took him to the SPCA. The problem was solved  when a woman and her husband adopted  Curious George.

    In class we're learning about animal abuse. Last friday I was watching the news and I saw this starving dog and it was cold.  Then someone took the dog to the SPCA. A week later the dog was all better. The SPCA gave the dog water, food, and a bed to lay on.The next day someone came to adopt the dog.

On Friday December 15 , 2011 we had a speial visitor . We learned some very important  facts about animal abuse. Three types of abuse are: Neglect , Direct Abuse , and Hoarding . I learned that 150,00 animal are killed in shelters in Philadelphia each year . I learned that Philly Paws is just for cats and dogs. I also learned that animals get hit for all types of things. I learned that Philly Paws has been open for 3 years.

On  friday we talked about animal abuse.  I learned that  hoarding is when there are too many animals in one place. Then we learned that neglect is like when  you do not feed animals.  The last thing was direct-abuse, that is like when you do something that can really kill or hurt animals.

On Friday, we talked about how my class can help animals. We also talked about how we can have a telethon. Or, we can have a stand where you can donate money, and every time you donate money you will get a t-shirt or a bag. Then we can have the ASPCA come out to talk to people to help animals. Also, to get people to become members of our blog 4th grade pet detectives!

Hi Everyone : ) This is Ms. Wainwright here, signing in for the 4th Grade Pet Detectives. I first want to say that I am very impressed with all of my VERY DEDICATED 4th Grade Pet Detectives! We had an AWESOME day today! We had several students working on their "animal reports" this morning, we will get them posted next week. This afternoon we experienced a really cool community partner visit! Ms. Claire, a dedicated humane educator and volunteer for Philly Paws, visited us with her pal Jack. She highlighted the three types of neglect and the importance of supporting organizations like Philly Paws. Jack entertained us with his calm but playful personality. I don't want to give away all of the details, agents will definitely update you all next week. I just wanted to give you a snapshot of our afternoon so you can make it a point to check in on us next week.

* Special thanks to Ms. Kyra, our Project Manager, from Need in Deed for helping scheduling us really cool community partners. I also want to thank Ms. Schulman, the school counselor, for working with us every step of the way (and for baking those really good brownies for us!!! :p )

Have a great weekend and enjoy our pics,
Ms. Wainwright : ) . 

Agent hard at work!

Agent hard at work!

Meet Jack : )

Ms. Schulman meeting Jack

An Agent meeting Jack

Ms. Wainwright meeting Jack

Animals are living creatures who should be treated with love and care. Some people abuse their animals and train them to kill each other and bet money on them. PETA is an organization that helps animals. Dogs are loving animals and deserve to be treated with love and care. Vick treated his his dogs badly and was arrested for dog fighting. He was never allowed to have a pet again. The vick dogs where  all corrected and adopted by families. I had been through so much that they had to kill him. We are writing this to tell people to care for their animals and love them.

Edited by Agent JDB

                  My class is creating a blog for Need in Deed. Need in Deed is when you solve a problem. My class's topic is Animal Abuse; we started to talk about Michael Vick's dogs. Even though it's about 1, 2, or even 3 years old, we still want to persuade people to care and love their pets. So, if you're reading this and you have a pet: care for your pet and love them!                                                                                                      

People need to take care of their pets and feed them each day.You have to love them and give them water each day and night. If your pet has the runs, go to a vet and get a shot. If your dog has to go to the bathroom, take them outside and bring them inside to eat.Take them for a walk. Buy them a nice chew toy to keep them company.You will need a water bowl, a container of dog food, a leash, and a collar.Take them to a field and let them run around the field, bring a bag if they poop (it's the law)!! You will need a dog house.

As part of our Need in Deed project, we have been exploring the different types of animal abuse. On December 2, 2011, we watched a documentary that discussed the famous dogs from the Michael Vick case. The 4th Grade Pet Detectives learned about how the majority of the dogs were rehabilitated despite many people thinking that they were "too viscous to keep alive". After watching this video, the 4th Grade Pet Detectives wrote about what they saw and shared their reflections.

Watch the video here


Read some of their thoughts below:


Dog Fighting by Agent JDB.
I think that dog fighting is bad because a lot of animals get killed. It is cruel because some people do it for entertainment. Animal abuse is something we should look into because it is important to help  animals.

My Thoughts by Agent MS
Michael Vick should've never had dogs fight and kill each other. Because the dogs were not born to fight and kill other dogs. Thats why he had to suffer and lose all his money. Its good because all of the dogs were sent to a real good home and they had two choices one was to keep fighting other dogs or go to a good home and have a good life.

Don't Fight Dogs Agent CB
I think that Michael Vick should never own animals again. His career should be taken away and he should give the money to the dogs, he should also give it to the people in his community. He should give it to the people who took his dogs and gave them homes. Michael Vick should not have done what he did; he was wrong for that.

We also created fact and opinion flip charts. This was perfect for practicing important reading skills while also thinking about the events in this documentary.