Allowing pupils to bring dogs into classrooms is inhumane and fraught with danger so teachers should consider introducing robot animals instead, education unions and welfare charities have warned.
A landmark ruling last year concluded that a secondary school pupil was entitled to take her pet golden retriever into classes following a three-year legal battle.
Moray council, in the northeast, had blocked the request on the grounds that other “reasonable adjustments” could be made to help the pupil cope with anxiety and a number of other conditions.
A tribunal ruled that the authority had erred in its decision and ordered it to issue a written apology to the family, who have not been named, for “the discrimination that occurred”.
The independent body, part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, predicted that its finding would lead to an influx of pets in classrooms.
“No doubt, given the success of the assistance dog in this case, the number of applications for use in schools will increase,” its ruling states.
The NASUWT teaching union said it was aware of a growing number of schools who were already deploying dogs for purposes other than offering assistance and guidance to individuals with anxiety issues and visual impairments. In response it has drawn up health and safety guidance for its members.
“Introducing a dog into the school environment is a significant step, which is potentially fraught with difficulties,” the document states.
“Procedures must be put in place so that any individuals with a phobia and/or an allergy to dogs do not have contact. Contact with dogs can, in some people, trigger an asthma attack which could be severe or life threatening. In these cases it is highly inadvisable for a dog to be present on the premises.”
The document also warned of the potential dangers of diseases being passed from canine visitors to humans.
“Dog faeces represent a severe risk to human health and must be cleaned up and handled accordingly,” it states. “This is especially true for any ‘accidents’.
“It should be remembered that parasitic infections, as well as gastrointestinal illnesses such as norovirus and salmonella, can be transmitted from dogs to humans, among other diseases.”
The Dogs Trust, the welfare charity, believes introducing pets to classrooms can be cruel and provoke overstimulated animals into biting children. “There is evidence to suggest that using dogs in schools can lead to compromised welfare,” it said.
“It is not sufficient, from an ethical point of view, for an animal which is used in education simply to tolerate it; they need to actively enjoy it and this is unlikely to be achievable in a school environment for the majority of dogs.
“The school environment can be a very busy, noisy and unpredictable place and, therefore, very stressful. Studies show that environmental and social stress leads to increased irritability in dogs and that a bite is most likely to occur as a result of anxiety in the individual dog. We would, therefore, strongly advise against introducing a dog to a school environment.”
It insisted that safer alternatives to bringing live animals into classrooms were available.
“All of our education and community officers are accompanied by toy dogs, and in a few cases, robotic dogs, both of which are very popular with both pupils and staff,” the trust’s guidance states. “This allows pupils the opportunity to safely practise how to manage their behaviour around a very real-looking dog without creating any risk to any party.
“In addition, after undertaking our own internal research into the impact our school workshops have, we found that learning is not enhanced by the presence of a real dog, and conversely not impaired by the alternative presence of a pretend, life-like dog.
Moray council had blocked a request for secondary school pupil to take her pet golden retriever into classes but this was overturned by a tribunal last year
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“There are many benefits to using pretend or robotic dogs for both the children and the real dogs that would otherwise be used.”
Both the trust and the NASUWT stressed they had no objection to seeing, hearing or emotional support dogs being in schools.
The tribunal decision against Moray council was backed by the charity Assistance Dogs Scotland.
“Our dogs are highly skilled assistance dogs who are legally entitled to have access to public areas and education,” a spokesman said. “We hope this is a positive step towards supporting assistance dogs.
“We will continue to fight to ensure organisations comply with disability and equalities legislation, including education.”
The tribunal concluded: “The dog is of great benefit. It has allowed the child to do things they could not previously do. It also has a calming effect on the child.”
Moray council, which has not named the school, said: “We issued an apology and continue to work with the family.”
A spokesman for Education Scotland said: “Interest in using dogs in educational settings for therapeutic purposes is increasing. It is the responsibility of local authorities to meet individual pupil needs.”
