An array of animals lines the walls of Mrs. Hurt’s classroom, some have been there for 15 years. They provide much needed comfort to stressed students during the school day, but what are their lives off the job? I sat down with the charming residents of room 7223 to see what its like to work as therapy animals at Magnet.

First I caught up with Hello Kitty. Often found on the book shelf near the door of the classroom, she sees all that goes on the inside and outside. Her beady eyes glinted when I asked her about her favorite student here. “Andrew de Arellano holds me in class when he’s stressed. He has a nice comforting grip.”She’s a favorite among the Junior boys.  Kitty claims to have been born with the rainbow colored mermaid tail; however, my inside sources tell me she had that surgery done years ago. Kitty says when she’s not on duty with the students, she likes to go out dancing.

Next Iago the wolf and I spent some time together. He took me out on his moped around the Bonds Wilson campus. He used to have a nice Prius, however he got a DUI and can only drive a two wheeled vehicle. Next we took the hot rod to this secret hole in the wall on Upper King. Except, it was actually a hole in the wall. After jumping straight in the dark entrance, Iago jumped behind the bar and mixed up his specialty drink. Hi-C juice and Sprite, with a little mint. We both were a little inebriated on the sugar and Iago was ready to spill his thoughts. He had grown up in the backwoods behind the Costco in West Ashley. His mother left him alone as a child, often scrounging for samples at the Costco and  bringing home other wolves. Iago spent most of his time on the street making money by selling ‘dog treats’ and wound up in the animal pound. His parole officer at the pound got him the gig at Mrs. Hurt’s room. Most of the kids don’t tend to cuddle with Iago. Despite his intimidating appearance, he craves human touch. While he is not on the job,  he goes to AA meetings or grows his own tobacco.

Immediately as I walked up to interview Craig, tears began to sprout from he’s beading eyes. “I’m not ready to tell my story” he hollered and scuttled away into the back corner. However, a fellow Magnet student Sallie Limehouse has had problem with Craig in the past. She says “Craig started out as my housekeeper. He quickly befriended me and persuaded me that he didn’t deserve to be just a housekeeper anymore. So I fired him and hired him instead as my financial advisor. Turns out he was stealing my money from my offshore account all along. Now I am homeless and live in the senior lounge.” This is your warning to stay away from Craig.

Rachel Walmet, an animal rights activists, was very eager to tell me her story about her favorite stuffed animals. One is a cow and the other a reindeer. She reports “I saved this cow from a puppy mill. The reindeer was mistreated by Santa Claus. One day the FBI arrived at my neighbor’s house and apparently there was a puppy mill in her backyard. And I thought,  hmm how could I not have noticed? I found the cow left behind after the police had left. I decided to keep him. He inspired me to pursue animal rights. My first task was Santa Claus. There was no way that those reindeer were being treated right. I flew up there and found this reindeer. He told me that just because he couldn’t fly like other reindeer, Santa made him manage all the financial operations of the North Pole. All that math and he wasn’t even getting paid. Just cruel.

As you can see, Mrs. Hurt opens her classroom to all types of animals. It is a haven and a chance to start anew. Be sure to stop by and meet some of these pals yourself.