After spending five days a week with our teachers, Ipswich High School seniors know too much about their children’s weddings, book clubs and how much they hate grading our  assignments. However, we do not hear enough about their pets. This tragedy is something that needs to be fixed. Some of our teachers have pets with mischievous behaviors that only escalate when they are here teaching us. I dug deeper into the lives of teachers’ pets, and found stories worth telling.

Mrs. Chandler had always wanted a “big grey snuggle cat” that she could love all the time. However, she didn’t know snuggling would be the only thing her cat wanted to do. Her cat’s name was Jezebel. An odd cat, Jezebel enjoyed attention and tape. “When she wasnt getting love, Jezebel would sniff out tape, ribbon and anything plastic to eat.” The unhealthy choice of food caused the cat to hurl up the plastic mess quite vigorously. Jezebel would pass out every time a ball of plastic was thrown up. Though she has passed away now, I can easily guess Mrs. Chandler won’t have a cat like her ever again. 

Mrs. Barclay, an animal lover at heart, found it her job to help a dog in need. One day she came upon a purebred chihuahua. He had a snaggle tooth and was “too ugly to be shown off by his owner, stuck in a crate, obese, and unloved.” Mrs. Barclay turned his life around and named him Riku. The ball of fur was “treated like a king from that day on,” she says.  Pampered and given all the love in the world, Riku and his larger brother Pancake ruled the house. One night, when Mrs. Barclay was making seafood, a piece of shrimp fell out of the pan and made its way to the ground. In a dash for the shrimp, Pancake snarled at Riku for it. Out of shock, Riku’s eye popped out! With surgery, the 13 year old pup was stitched up and sent back home.

Mrs. Panciera, a farm girl, owned her own herd of cows as a child. They were the black and white kind, all cared for by her. Each of the 25 cows were bathed, fed, clipped and taken to local fairs. Most importantly, Kelly was the name of her first cow. She was incredibly fat and had a calf every year. Other than her cows, Mrs. Panciera also owned a sheep named Betty Baa Baa. Taking care of one seven pound dog for my family is a challenge. Knowing she cared for 25 very large cows is quite impressive.

Lastly, Mr. Chmura has a cockapoo named Bella that he refers to as a “princess.” Intelligent and trained, Bella can wring a bell when she needs to be taken out. However, Mr. Chmura claims she wrings it more than she needs to just to be taken on a walk.

Though each teacher’s pet stories are different, they are all unique in the sense that they love their owners and their owners love them. It was a treat to learn more about the lives our teachers pets.

-In loving memory of Jezebel