Summary

Two hamsters, Ralph and Ralph II, died in quick succession due to neglect and poor living conditions in an elementary school classroom, highlighting the need for better care and understanding of hamsters' needs.

Abstract

The article recounts the tragic deaths of two classroom hamsters, Ralph and Ralph II, within a few months of each other. The first hamster, Ralph, escaped his inadequate cage at home during a school break and was chased by cats, leading to his demise. Despite being informed of the cage's insecurity, the teacher failed to improve the living conditions. Ralph II, a hamster nearly identical to Ralph, met a similar fate when he escaped his cage and was found in an old fishbowl. The narrative underscores the lack of proper care and consideration for the emotional and physical well-being of these small pets, reflecting a broader issue of ignorance regarding the needs of animals beyond cats and dogs. The author emphasizes the importance of educating oneself on the proper treatment of hamsters and treating them with the respect they deserve as sentient beings.

Opinions

The teacher's disregard for the hamsters' safety and well-being is evident in her failure to provide a secure and spacious cage, despite warnings.
The author suggests that sending a class pet home with students is unsafe and demonstrates a lack of concern for the animal's welfare.
The teacher's quick replacement of Ralph with Ralph II indicates a lack of understanding of the individuality and value of each hamster's life.
The article criticizes the common oversight of hamsters' sentience and the need for their mental stimulation and exercise.
The author advocates for increased awareness and education on the proper care of small animals like hamsters to prevent similar tragedies.

How Two Hamsters Tragically Died in My Elementary School

And why people need to take better care of hamsters

A gorgeous white and brown hamster, Ralph belonged to my second grade teacher as the class pet. I loved to pet and feed the sweet tiny creature.

As a child, I didn’t realize how his cage was too small or how my teacher failed to provide for his entertainment needs. I incorrectly assumed that he must have been content overall since he showed enthusiasm when letting me and some of the other children pet him.

Over the holidays, one child with parental permission got to take the precious hamster home with them. I don’t believe anyone should be sending home a class pet with a random student; it implies a disregard for the animal’s safety. At the time, I just knew that I so desperately wanted to be the one to take him home for the winter break.

The teacher drew a name out of a hat. “Danielle, you get to take Ralph home,” she declared.

Joy engulfed me.

Eventually, the anticipated day when I got to bring him home arrived. My mom also had two cats. I was there for most of the break but went to my dad’s for part of it.

Sometime after I came back, my mom said, “He’s figured out how to get out of the cage. He escaped, and the cats were chasing him.”

I wonder now if perhaps he had left the cage that first time due to distress at being in a new place or if it was just coincidentally when he finally learned how to get out of that cage that wasn’t sufficient for him.

My mom, however, had discovered immediately after rescuing him from our cats that placing something on top of the cage kept him from being able to break free.

Besides being smaller than Ralph deserved, the cage the teacher had bought for him was clearly also poorly made.

When school started back again, my mom informed my teacher of the incident with Ralph and let her know that he could get out of the cage if she didn’t put anything on top of it to keep him from escaping. Really, my teacher needed to get him a better cage in which he had more space to roam. Unfortunately, there would have been no convincing her to buy him a different cage, but she didn’t even settle for sticking something on the cage to keep Ralph from getting out.

Shortly after, Ralph broke free from the cage at the school — a poor, scared hamster probably driven to break free by the teacher’s choice to not give him a big enough space to live in or anything to occupy his mind or provide him with exercise. The little fellow had a miserable life in the school that I believe led him to this action.

Soon, my teacher announced, “We found Ralph, but he didn’t make it.”

She hadn’t even tried to keep him from getting out of the cage. Instead, he had an extremely short and tragic life in which he had little happiness.

This circumstance was horrible. I don’t think she learned from it. Almost immediately, my teacher purchased another hamster as a class pet for which she used the same poor cage and whose needs she didn’t sufficiently provide for.

He looked nearly identical to Ralph. As I think back on this, it feels too much like she just wanted to find a replacement for him — another hamster also fated to live his days in sorrow and boredom.

We all voted on a name for this new hamster. I can’t remember any names proposed except for the one that won the competition — Ralph II. It turned out to be altogether too fitting given the similar trajectories of their lives.

It wasn’t long before Ralph II figured out that he could get out of the cage as well, and my teacher didn’t take any precautionary measures after the death of the last hamster. Like Ralph, Ralph II likely tried to flee because he wasn’t having his needs met beyond being given food and water.

One day my teacher told the class, “I’m so sorry. Ralph II got out and was found in an old fish bowl.”

My two little hamster friends had perished within only a couple months of each other, and it felt agonizing.

Reflecting back on the situation, it’s difficult to reconcile my memories of the teacher who was usually so kind and legitimately cared about her students with the fact that she did so little to care for the wellbeing of these two class pets.

Too many people don’t consider the feelings that hamsters have or their capacity for suffering. I’ve noticed that they often overlook the fact that small animals, such as hamsters, are sentient beings, and they often don’t educate themselves on how to properly care for these creatures before purchasing them.

I believe my teacher wasn’t aware of just how important the proper treatment of hamsters is because people are uninformed about these animals, and many people fail to realize that pets other than cats and dogs are complex beings with their own emotions and mental processes.

Over time, I’m hoping that more people come to see the value of treating hamsters with the respect that they deserve. The lives and happiness of hamsters depend on it, and I hope for other hamsters to have better lives than the two poor Ralphs did.