Students Upset, Accuse Teacher of Killing Baby Rabbits(with shovel)

www.abcnews.com ^ | March 19,2004

[LadyShallott]

P L A N T C I T Y, Fla., March 19— A high school school teacher was cited for animal cruelty after she allegedly used a shovel to kill two baby rabbits as her protesting students looked on.

Jane Bender, an agriculture teacher at Plant City High School, killed the two day-old rabbits after the sickly newborns were rejected by their mother, students said.

"She came over with a shovel and just sort of chopped in the hole, and then buried them," said student Ryan Harrell. He said he was so upset by his teacher's actions that he threw up and then broke down crying. "I was really shocked and appalled. I didn't have any words for it."

Students said they had offered to take care of the bunnies, but Bender said she did not want to bottle-feed the newborns. She ordered the students to bury them alive, and when the students refused, she killed them herself, they said.

Cruel to Be Kind?

The Hillsborough County sheriff's office investigated and turned the case over to the state attorney's office. Officials there determined that Bender might have displayed bad judgment, but no criminal charges were warranted. Bender was cited for two civil counts of animal cruelty.

"Her only comment was that she had made a bad decision," said Animal Services investigator Dennis McCullough. "I definitely felt that the teacher needed to be held accountable."

The veteran teacher is also facing questions from the school board, which plans to review the case.

"We haven't talked to the teacher yet," schools spokesman Mark Hart said, "but we believe that she was trying to explain to them that, sometimes in the course of farming, it is necessary to put animals down."

Bender declined to comment to reporters on the case. The teacher, who has 30 years of excellent reviews in her personnel file, could receive a letter of caution or a reprimand.

A few students were willing to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.

"[It's] for the better of the animals. They're dying already, she went ahead and took care of it and put them out of their misery," said student Charlie Lusk.

Some parents were especially concerned that the rabbits were killed in front of students.

"Nothing like that should be done in front of the kids," said one parent. "I mean, it shouldn't have been done anyway."

[nmh]

Om my. It scares me to death.

Remind me not to stop by and see your snake ;) That too would paralyze me in fear. I'll cautiously check out your link.

Thanks.

[FITZ]

said student Ryan Harrell. He said he was so upset by his teacher's actions that he threw up and then broke down crying.

I wonder if this kid's dad ever took him hunting. It sounds like these are city kids who weren't ready to take an ag class, they aren't at all realistic about what has to happen to sick farm animals.

[FITZ]

there was NOTHING wrong with the baby rabbits

It said they were sickly and the mother rabbit rejected them --- if the babies were fine, then there was something wrong with the mother and she should have been destroyed.

[Trinity_Tx]

"The students are running this town."

Considering this part:

"She ordered the students to bury them alive, and when the students refused, she killed them herself, they said."

I'd say thank God those students were at least standing up to this sick witch.

I grew up on a ranch with wild rabbits everywhere and a gruff, tough, gun-toting, hunting father. Had he seen this woman behave so lazily that day he woulda slapped her silly.

And I would have been proud.

[Agnes Heep]

Ha! One of my favorite "Far Side" cartoons shows a Mama duck and one baby duck queuing across a street in single file. Right behind them is this huge snake with a big, caught-in-the-act grin on his face, and three big lumps in his body. Wish I could post it, but I think it's copyrighted.

[alnitak]

Keeping big snakes is a job for skilled herpers (herpetologists). I would never have one myself, a snake like a big retic, burmese python or anaconda is a lot to look after, and can be dangerous. Unfortunately they tend to be very common in the reptile trade because they breed easily and feed well. It's common to see small babies 1-2ft long in a petshop - they are very attractive at that age. A lot get sold to people who aren't prepared for the fact that they can hit 10ft at one year of age and weigh more than their keeper.

Small snakes however make great pets - they're beautiful, fascinating to watch, come in different colours, low maintenance, easy to look after (feed & poo only once a week), and not prone to diseases. On the downside, they don't have much personality and they can't be trained to do tricks.

Do me a favour? Pop into your local reptile show and ask to handle a baby corn snake, they are only about 12 inches long and are seriously cute.

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

Oh I can't take another heartache
Though you say your my friend, I'm at my wit's end
You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide
With the things that you do and when I ask you to be nice
You say

You gotta be
Cruel to be kind
In the right measure
Cruel to be kind
It's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind
Means that I love you baby
You gotta be cruel to be kind

Well I do my best to understand dear
But your still mystified
And I wanna know why
I pick myself up off the ground
To have you knock me back down
Again and again and when I ask you
To explain
You say

You gotta be
Cruel to be kind
In the right measure
Cruel to be kind
It's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind
Means that I love you baby
You gotta be cruel to be kind

[chance33_98]

Ping - maybe we could adopt this method in handling the trolls.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Years ago a vet injected and killed an injured horse in front of our agricultural class. When asked why he didn't shoot it, he said...

"An injection looks nicer."

[DonnerT]

That parent sounds like the sort of person who would let a domestic animal "go free"..... to die a slow and painful death in the wild.

And abort a perfectly healthy "unwanted fetus".

[spetznaz]

If you think Fluffy was fun have a look at Baby (yep, this snake's actual name)

[gd124]

I don't believe all the people here taking the teachers side. She is obviously a sadistic bitch.

A) She ordered the students to bury the rabbits alive
B) She refused the students offers to raise the rabbits
C) She then put the rabbits in a hole and chopped/buried them with a shovel

I would take her side only if no students had offered to take care of the rabbits and she had killed them humanely.