LOS ANGELES : School Ransacked, Student Pets Taken Over Holiday
Kids returning to the vandalized Shenandoah Street Children’s Center put their hands over their mouths in shock: Rocky the toad, Leonarda the turtle and Kermit the tree frog were missing.
“It’s a definite blow,” said Brenda Powell-Bolder, a parent and worker at the adjacent Shenandoah Street Elementary School. Children ages 2 to 12 use the day care center year-round.
Staff arrived Tuesday to find a broken window and ransacked rooms missing earthquake supplies and other items. A puddle of water and glass shards lay where an aquarium once held three goldfish.
Nearby, empty tables were all that were left of the ornate terrariums that held the toad, turtle and frog.
“You hate for them to start life out at a very young age seeing those kinds of acts of violence associated with school,” said Principal Marie Jett.
“We’re still talking to them, just telling them that sometimes these things happen, and they hope they’re in a good home,” Jett said.
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