Junior High School Teacher Accused of Feeding Puppy to Snapping Turtle in Front of Class

A teacher at a Junior High School in Preston, Idaho, has been accused of feeding a puppy to a snapping turtle in front of a class.

Robert Crosland, a biology teacher, is being investigated following the reported incident at Preston Junior High, according to East Idaho News. Local superintendent Marc Gee said in a statement that “a regrettable circumstance involving some of the biological specimens” had occurred on March 7 during an after-school animal feeding session.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s office are investigating Crosland after reports of animal cruelty.

“Allowing children to watch an innocent baby puppy scream because it is being fed to an animal. That is violence. That is not okay,” local animal activist Jill Parrish, who filed a police report, told KSTU.

Crosland remains at Preston Junior High pending the investigation, according to CBS. School district officials released a statement urging parents and members of the community to remain patient and remember Crosland’s “years of care, effort and passion.”

Parents told KSTU that the puppy was deformed and dying, adding that the feeding session was “very much circle of life.”