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School Apologizes Over Video Showing Students Playing With Dead Cats

1 minute read

An Oklahoma school apologized Wednesday after a video circulating on social media showed students holding up dead cats and making it look like they were dancing when they were supposed to be dissecting the specimens in a biology class.

The clip was filmed in fall 2013, but went viral this week after the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shared it on social media.

“We agree that animals should be treated and handled with respect and dignity, a standard that was not upheld in this instance,” Harding Charter Preparatory High School in Oklahoma City said in a statement on the school’s website.

Black Cat Audition, 1961

Black Cat Audition, 1961
Caption from LIFE. Who's afraid of all these black cats?Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
Black cats auditioning for a role in The Black Cat, a new version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic in 1961.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Cat Audition, 1961
A lone white cat, out of place auditioning for a role in The Black Cat.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com