Concordia High School offers students a class on animal science and food production, with the intention of teaching them about food production. By the time student Whitney Hillman found out that the class involved raising and slaughtering a chicken, it was too late to for her to drop it. So, when the kill day came, she decided to take things into her own hands and kidnap her chicken, saving it from slaughter.

“I got two days in-school suspension, but I don’t care,” Whitney told The Wichita Eagle. “They made him my pet and then wanted me to kill him. I couldn’t do that.” She took the class because she wants to study zoology in college.

Although Whitney always earned good grades, she knew that killing a chicken she had raised would not be an assignment she could complete. She told her mother and stepfather about her plan and they agreed to let her carry out the poultry abduction. “Later that day, I took Whitney back to school to turn herself in,” said Whitney’s mother, Kristina Frost. “I told her, ‘This is farm country. I’m glad you’re strong.’ ” Frost criticized the school for making the students bond with animals intended for food.

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I grew up on a farm, so my family always had a lot of animals running around. My favorites were a dog named Barney the Barn Dog and a horse named Amigo. Both of these animals had a soft-spot in my heart and I considered them to be a part of the family.

Fast forward about 10 years to when I started college. Freshman year was so exciting: so many new people, new experiences, new things to do, etc. However, I was always glad to go home and see Barney and Amigo. My dorm room didn’t allow pets of any kind, so I got very homesick for my furry family members. (In fact, my parents teased me that I only came home to see the animals and not because I missed them at all.) Read the rest of this entry »

Searcy Hall, nicknamed the pet central dormitory on Stephens College campus will be home to 30 incoming freshmen who have requested to bring along a pet to campus when they arrive this fall to begin classes.

The dorm will feature a makeshift kennel on the first floor that will be fully staffed by work-study students who will offer temporary boarding and maybe even pet baths to keep all the Fidos and Rovers clean.

There is even a pet council at the college, comprised of students and faculty members that enforce strict guidelines. Students may get into trouble with the board if their pets’ barks are too loud. In addition, students are not allowed to bring their pets into classrooms or lounges in case students nearby have allergies.

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