School animals taken away after shelter finds fault with sanitation
By Sophia Fischer
sfischer@theacorn.com

Special education students at Conejo Elementary School in Thousand Oaks no longer have their beloved animals to care for at school.

As a result of an investigation launched by the Agoura Animal Shelter after an anonymous complaint, the teacher who owned and cared for the menagerie of goats, pigs, chickens and other animals gave most of the animals away last week to a Thousand Oaks petting zoo.

"The shelter has been harassing me. They said I had 48 hours to remove my animals," said a tearful Gail Armey, who’s retiring in June after 35 years of teaching in the district and had planned to take the animals with her at that time. "I haven’t slept for days because of this."

Rather than risk the removal of the animals by the shelter, Armey wanted to find them a good a home.

The complaint of unsanitary conditions was filed with the city of Thousand Oaks, which contracts with the shelter for animal control services. Shelter officers had visited the school several times to inspect the compound.

Gail Miley, shelter manager, said that although the animals were in good condition, there were violations including no trays under rabbit cages to catch feces, cages with improper shelter, and standing water in buckets that needed changing. The school removed the animals temporarily to steam clean and pressure wash the compound.

"There was no animal cruelty or abuse, but you’ve got a public elementary school with animal droppings, and that’s unsanitary," Miley said. "It lent itself to rodent harborings."

Miley added that Armey had complied with most of the regulations but had not provided the shelter with a key to the locked compound so that officers could have access to the animals.

"Last Thursday we went there. The principal wasn’t on the property and we had to interrupt the classroom to get the key," Miley said.

Miley also felt that 46 animals were too many for the compound.

"That’s a lot of commitment, and those kinds of situations can easily get out of control," Miley said.

Miley expressed surprise that the animals had been moved.

"There were a lot of other options," she said.

With the animals gone, the investigation is closed, said Miley. Had the animals remained, a final inspection would have taken place last week.

"A report would have been written and sent to the city attorney and they would decide what to do," Miley said.

For her part, Armey disagrees with the shelter’s findings.

"We clean really well, but animals poop," Armey said.

Since she began teaching at Conejo in 1991, Armey has incorporated animals into her program. She says her efforts were supported by her principal and by the district.

The animals were in a fenced-off 30-by-30-foot compound outside Armey’s classroom. Students earned the right to care for the animals. The entire 550-student body shared the animals for various educational activities. Handicapped students from an onsite county program interacted with the animals on a daily basis.

"The animals calm students down, and having the responsibility of caring for them helps the students grow," Armey said. "I’ve had severely emotionally disturbed children and it is amazing how they turned around with the animals. Having them to hold, loving them and being loved back works magic."

Margaret Gustavson saw that magic firsthand with her son, Brody, 8. After the second-grader was placed in Armey’s class due to emotional problems, Gustavson saw a big change in her son’s behavior. Gustavson’s other son, Skyler, 9, has also enjoyed the animals.

"If it wasn’t for Gail and that compound, I don’t know what I would have done," said Gustavson, adding that both her sons were upset about the loss of the animals. "These are fragile children. Gail would never do anything to hurt these animals. This is crazy, and for her to go out into retirement like this is not right."

School Principal Esther Salinas said that she appreciates the shelter’s job in wanting to make sure the animals were well cared for but that the animals provided a positive learning experience for students.

"We saw amazing things with the students. We know the benefits of the mixture of children and animals," Salinas said.

A school counselor met with the children to help them deal with the loss of the animals.

"Pets become part of the family, and anytime anyone loses a pet there will be a sadness there," Salinas said.

Most of the animals had been rescued or donated and included rabbits, a desert tortoise, rats, chinchillas and ducks. Some, including a cockatoo, will remain inside the classroom. Armey is taking a few of the animals to her new home in Idaho over the spring vacation.

Brenda Young, a spokesperson at the city, declined to comment on the situation except to say that the complaint was filed at city hall.

"Any time we receive any type of complaint about animal conditions we have to investigate," Young said.

The animals are now in the care of Joanne Mazin of Thousand Oaks. She’ll incorporate them into her petting zoo, which has appeared at Conejo Valley Days and Moorpark’s Easter egg hunt.

"You can’t take these animals and put them into general adoption situations," Mazin said "These animals are used to being around kids and being petted."