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HAMILTON SPECTATOR (Ontario) 11 January 06 Thieves take autistic kids' treasured pet; Quin the leopard gecko helped students learn (Matthew Kwong)
Photo: A studentholds a sign asking for others to be on the lookout for Quin the missing gecko. (Gary Yokoyama)
Halton police are calling it a "break-and-enter," but the children at Woodview Learning Centre know the real crime here is lizard-napping.
Quin, the leopard gecko who has his own spot in the school's yearbook, was stolen after thieves kicked in the door at the mental health centre last Friday.
They fled with an aquarium that houses the honorary student and pet shared by eight autistic kids.
One of the students, Zander, 13, gave the gecko his name two years ago and described his reptile friend as "almost the size of a banana and the exact colour of one, with little black spots.
"Quin was the most treasured thing in the school and the most valuable thing I ever met," Zander said, cradling the plastic rock the lizard slept under for two years. "This is all I have left of him now."
Garry Stuart, the director of the school on Flatt Road in Burlington, showed a crayon sketch of Quin that one student drew as a missing poster.
"Stolen by evil," says a caption in the bottom corner.
"It's their gecko. It doesn't belong to the adults or the school, it belongs to them," he said .
The gecko was stolen along with a laptop, blank CDs, a ghetto blaster and software worth more than $2,000, he said.
But it's the missing animal, not the property that hurts most, Stuart says.
"They bought it as a very young and small infant and then it grew to double its size.
"They took great pleasure in watching it in its home, seeing it prowl and climb and explore around the aquarium and the small plants there."
Quin was purchased two years ago as part of a school project. The children calculated the cost to care for the lizard, interviewed pet store owners and raised enough money through bake sales to buy Quin for about $50.
Teacher Dale McLean said the pet was a significant tool for autistic kids to understand the emotions of attachment.
Each morning at school, the eight children, ranging from 10 to 14 years old, took turns cleaning Quin's aquarium and feeding and playing with him.
Yesterday, McLean gathered students into a class circle to talk about the theft and make sure the kids grasped what had happened.
"We had a gambit of emotions, we talked about the fact that some were angry. There was one student who cried, he was very upset and he's still upset.
"One little girl went to a table and made a wanted poster and wants us to copy it out," she explained.
Burlington police have informed nearby pet stores to be on the lookout for people trying to sell a gecko. Sergeant Jeff Corey said the lizard is priceless in the eyes of these youngsters and thieves may not have known how important it is to the well-being of the children.
Anyone with information about Quin is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-222-TIPS.

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BURLINGTON POST (Ontario) 15 January 06 Stolen gecko tugs at public's heartstrings (Tim Whitnell)
Quin is still missing but the high-profile theft of the pet gecko has garnered widespread media attention and prompted an outpouring of offers from the public.
The two-year-old leopard gecko, a small lizard-like creature, was among many items stolen from the Woodview Children's Centre in Aldershot sometime last weekend.
The gecko and his aquarium belong to a learning centre class of eight autistic kids aged 8-14.
The tiny yellow, black and white lizard with the white underbelly is the prized possession of the students who paid about $250 a few years ago for Quin and related food and equipment.
Also stolen from the building were a laptop computer, a portable stereo and about 50 new toys that had been donated to the centre's kids at Christmas.
Halton police are investigating.
The executive director of Woodview said word has spread fast about Quin's disappearance.
"It has been incredible. The phone has been ringing non-stop. We have had over a dozen telephone calls from people offering replacement geckos and even money," said Garry Stuart.
"We're not going to rush into a replacement. The kids need time to take it all in," he said, adding the hope is that Quin will be returned.
Some of the special needs children cried when told Tuesday of their pet's theft. In response, they produced a wanted poster written in crayon that says, 'Wanted. Have you seen Quin? Lepord Gekco.'
In the meantime, a 13-year-old Woodview student named Zander surprised his heartbroken classmates by bringing his pet gecko, Dewberry, into the class Thursday as a temporary replacement.
Woodview Learning Centre is a not-for-profit school for children with autism.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Burlington detectives at 905-634-1831, ext. 2316, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Stolen gecko tugs at public's heartstrings