Teacher Accused of Feeding Live Puppy to Snapping Turtle In Front of Students

By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze

If there wasn’t enough wrong with America’s public schools already, a science teacher at a junior high school in Idaho was accused of feeding a live puppy to a snapping turtle in front of students after school, according to a number of reports.

The official police report was filed by an animal activist named Jill Parrish after learning of the incident. While there has been no statement from the teacher, and the incident is being investigated, the Preston School District Superintendent, Marc Gee, stated that, “the event occurred well after students had been dismissed and was not part of any school-directed program. We emphasize that at no time was the safety of students or staff compromised.”

Of course, the question was never in regards to student or staff safety – it was in regards to the puppies.

As of early Tuesday, Robert Crosland was still employed at the school, had not been cited, charged or placed on leave. The school superintendent that the incident was being investigated and the Franklin County Sheriff, Dave Fryer, stated that he forwarded the report to the county prosecutor.

Crosland is known for keeping exotic animals like snakes and other reptiles in his classroom. Three former students anonymously reported that Crosland used to feed guinea pigs to snakes and snapping turtles during class for the purpose of demonstration.

It should also be noted that something did indeed happen since the school itself referred to it as “the event” and pointed out that it was not part of any school-directed program.

Jill Parrish stated that a teacher told her last week about the feeding of the puppy which was supposedly disfigured. Parrish certainly believes that not only did the incident take place but that the puppy was alive as she stated, “Allowing children to watch an innocent baby puppy scream because it is being fed to an animal… that is violence. That is not okay.”

Este Hull, a 7th grader at the school, stated that she has known Crosland to feed his reptiles animals, but that they were only mice or birds.

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

Senior Director of Cruelty Casework with PETA, Stephanie Bell, commented on the incident by saying, “Any youngster who witnessed cruelty in the classroom is now in desperate need of lessons about having empathy for other living beings. ”

Bell is 100% correct. Even if Crosland did not commit the act in question (although clearly something has taken place out of the norm), his reputation for feeding animals to snakes and snapping turtles should be enough to prevent him from ever entering the classroom again. Killing animals for entertainment, education and in such grotesque, slow ways, especially in front of impressionable young people, is not only irresponsible, it is twisted.

Bell is right to point out that such incidents require lessons about empathy, but it should be added that such experiences often serve to eliminate it. Torturing animals is well-known to be a signal of psychopaths and children being forced into school and subsequently forced into experiencing this level of cruelty, are thus going to have their own moral compass and ability to empathize thrown off-kilter.

Perhaps Crosland and his school are already seeing their work pay off with the bizarre reactions coming from the students and the parents. “I feel a little better that it was a puppy that was going to die, not just a healthy puppy,” 7th grader, Este Hull said.

“If it was a deformed puppy that was going to die anyway, [Crosland] is very much circle of life.” says parent Annette Salvinson.

Clearly, empathy might not be this community’s strong suit.

Jill Parrish is not satisfied with such cold responses, however. “There’s a lot of humane things you can do,” she said. “Feeding a live animal to a reptile is not humane and it’s not okay.”

It’s also not something we should have to point out in the 21st century.

Image: NaturalBlaze via WC [1], WC[2], NYPost/Facebook

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Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies,Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria,and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 1,000 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.