PDSA Senior Veterinary Surgeon Elaine Pendlebury said: "It is essential that pets are looked after correctly and whilst pets are of real benefit to children, there are potential welfare issues if school pets receive insufficient attention during holidays. Pets that are kept in a school for nine months of the year and then suddenly placed in a new environment can be affected by this change.
"Our concern is that people may have found themselves landed with looking after an animal when they may have never owned a pet before and are unsure of what to do. Anybody taking on such a responsibility must make sure that they look after the pet correctly."
The Animal Welfare Act places a legal ‘duty of care' on all adults responsible for a pet's care to ensure their pet's welfare needs are met but help and guidance is available on PDSA's interactive tool, ‘Your Right Pet', www.your-right-pet.org.uk. This is also a useful resource for existing pet owners or people considering getting a new pet.
‘Your Right Pet' has a wealth of information on the most popular school pets which the survey has confirmed to be hamsters, rabbits, fish, gerbils and guinea pigs. It explains what a pet's needs are and how, practically, these can be met for the most commonly kept pets.
There are five things that all pets need to keep healthy and happy:
- Environment - pets need a suitable place to live.
- Diet - pets need a balanced diet that meets their nutritional needs.
- Behaviour - pets should be able to behave normally.
- Company - pets' social needs need to be met.
- Health and Welfare - owners and carers are responsible for their pet's health. All pets should be checked at least once a day (twice for rabbits) for any signs of illness.
Elaine added: "As well as providing more information, people can also download handy checklists as a reminder of what's required to care for pets properly."
The online tool can also be used as an educational resource by children of all ages. There are fun and interactive elements such as a cartoon animal that changes into different pets as users answer four questions, plus more in-depth aspects of pet care for the older child.
There are other elements for children too such as creating their very own 'virtual' pet which can be downloaded and used as a screen wallpaper, emailed to friends and added to personal profiles on websites such as MySpace and Facebook. More information on pet care can also be found on www.pdsa.org.uk or www.youngpdsa.org.uk
