I am currently reading Exploits, and there is section where Jo is deciding who should do what jobs as Prefects. They mention the pets that some of the pupils bring, which is , because you don't really hear of them being looked after through out the school's career, other than the school cat, Rufus and Bruno. Is this just another Ebdism, or am I missing something?

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Wishes the land of Merlin and magic was real

It's only mentioned in a couple of books. Eva von Heiling is Pets Prefect in Exploits and And Jo, and it says something about Cornelia bringing a chameleon, some of the juniors having canaries (that must have been interesting!) and other pupils having dogs and cats! I don't think it's mentioned before or after, and there's never a single storyline involving any of the pets, nor are we even told whose pets all these dogs and cats were.

I think EBD must have been reading whichever Dimsie book it is where there's a big storyline about pets, decided it was a good idea, then forgotten about it .

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At that date, it's even more improbable because of the rabies quarantine laws that would make it virtually impossible to move animals around between home and school. I'm not even convinced by the pets kept at school in Antonia Forest's books set at Kingscote, because although small creatures like rodents and birds might be OK, I certainly don't see cats or even dogs being content with living in a confined space and only getting occasional attention from their humans.

I think that was probably Madge's point when she decided that Rufus would have to live at Die Rosen rather than at the school, which makes it even less likely that she'd have let other pupils have dogs or cats there!

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We really must stop eating like this ...

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Quite. I do sometimes wonder whether some of the elements in the CS-verse - and the pets make a good example - are only present intermittently, like the Imminent Grove in Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea books. It goes with the mysteriously fluid time, that allows rather more characters to have been Head Girl than there was actually time for, or for people's ages to go up and down!

There's a mention in one of the Swiss books where Hilda Annersley thinks about getting a dog to protect the school (Redheads?). She mentions that having pets at the school in the past was a problem when they couldn't leave during holidays or when the student left the school and they had to find new owners - who may have been other students.

The move away from the Tirol and wartime conditions probably stopped girls having pets at school.

On a related note, how did Madge manage to leave Rufus behind when she left Austria? Surely she could have taken him when she left - and many of the young children had been already been taken away by Margot Venables. Or was it supposed to be Jem's job to take Rufus, as he left after Madge?

IIRC, in one of the non-Tyrol books, there's a mention of a canary in the Junior common room.

It would make more sense for their being "school" animals - Minette the cat, a potential Headmistress's dog, classroom gerbils/hamsters/rabbits. perhaps even a goat for milk! - and these being the "special" responsibility of a Pets' Prefect rather than there being a lot of individual animals which would produce travel and quarantine problems.

There'ld still have to be something done during holidays but it must have been very rare that there was no-one at all at school. Even during the long summer holidays, there must have been deep-cleaning, decorating and other "big" maintenance jobs going on so someone must have been around to supervise.

I've never understood that. Yes, there would be the aforesaid quarantine problems, but they were not insurmountable, as Mr Flower demonstrated. Unless there was a shortage of places available and no animals could be taken?

Wasn't it all a rush, when they left, and that's why Rufus was left behind? There might not have been room for him, and everyone was worried for their lives, too, so a dog, sadly would have easily been left behind. I do love that reunion scene, however!

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Wishes the land of Merlin and magic was real

I think it’s probable that Rufus was considered as “property” (even though he was a cherished pet) and therefore easily replaced so there was no plan to evacuate him with the San / School / other departures. Eigen probably stayed with Rufus as a link to his past life, and the stability it offered, and Mr. Flower evidently had enough money and influence to allow for luxuries like large dogs.

I also love the reunion scene, and I admit to “blinking rapidly and trying not to shame myself” every time I read it.

I don't know how they'd have gone about taking Rufus from Austria to Guernsey - could dogs travel in the luggage compartments on trains? And they'd have had to arrange quarantine. They knew Jockel (I think it was Jockel rather than Eigen?) would look after him, and that Tyrol was Rufus's home anyway, and they probably had so much else to worry about that they decided to take the easier option. Madge was pregnant with Josette, they'd have been sorting out the evacuation of the pupils and school staff, and Jem was having to ensure that all the San patients, some of whom may have been in a bad way, were either safely evacuated or else taken care of by the new authorities. They'd have been worried sick about Jo and Robin and Jack - at this stage, they'd probably have heard from Elisaveta to say that they hadn't arrived in Belsornia, so they'd have been imagining all sorts - and anxious to be reunited with the younger children. I suppose something had to give!

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We really must stop eating like this ...

Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open.

http://setinthepast.wordpress.com/

Yeah - I can see with the confusion of a sudden move of the family, school and San, and the complications of transporting and quarantining a pet (particularly a big one like a St Bernard) it just wasn't possible.

I also think that general attitudes towards pets have changed a lot since then - people could have a great deal of affection for them, but still consider them property, as Nyota said, rather than family members.

The pets at school thing is something that sounds fun until you think about it. Practically, I could see local girls bringing their pets with them to school, but not the international ones. I could also see having school pets (I remember class guinea pigs and hamsters as a kid), and the Pets prefects being in charge of making sure they were fed, watered and cleaned up afterwards. In the summer, the Russells could look after them, or a local family could be paid to do it.

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Joey and friends have a canary in their common room as well in New House.

Going back to the dogs question, though Rufus is often taken out, other girls' dogs are never taken on rambles.