As you know, many people in the WMS have dogs and cats. But that’s not all the students and faculty own. There is a variety, from turtles to bunnies.

The Watertown Splash surveyed students and teachers at Watertown Middle School about their pets. Of the people who responded, there were 193 pets of 11 different varieties.

Dog was the most popular pet. There were 72 dogs (37.3 percent) in the survey. Eighth-graders Joey Kelland and Gabriella Coppola and teachers Jim Duffy and Kathy Kiernan all have dogs. Gabby has two pugs named Jasmine and Pudge. Jasmine is all black with white paws and Pudge is coffee colored with black ears. Joey has a golden retriever named Kelsey. She is auburn colored and is 6 years old.

Mrs. Kiernan got her dog, Daisy, at Sterling Animal Center. Her dog is a mix hound dog that is brown and white and 2 1/2 years old. Mr. Duffy’s dog, Kallie, is a beagle-collie mix that he got at from the Animal Rescue League.

Ms. Kiernan got her dog because around Christmas her old dog had died. Mr. Duffy got his dog because he grew up on a farm with many animals and he wanted one.

Cats were the second-most popular (54 pets, 27.9 percent). WMS teacher Sam Morris has a cat named Isaac, who turned 5 this month. Mrs. Morris got Isaac at a cat show, although she was supposed to get him at Nashoba Valley pet shelter.

Mrs. Morris said she got Isaac because Skitz, her old cat, died. Sean, her son, was very sad, so the family decided to get Isaac.

Sophia Keuchkarian, another student at the WMS, said, “I love my pets. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

That’s what a real pet lover sounds like.

–May 27, 2010–