Teacher accused of ‘feeding live puppy to snapping turtle’ in front of students

A snapping turtle

A science teacher has been charged with animal cruelty following
claims that he fed a sick puppy to a snapping turtle in front of
his students.

Robert Crosland, who kept exotic animals in a tank in his
biology class at Preston Junior High School, in Idaho,
could be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $5,000
(£3,700) if convicted, the BBC reports.

Following the alleged incident, in March, the Idaho
Department of Agriculture euthanised the snapping turtle, because
it is considered to be an invasive species.

“Unconfirmed details about the incident spread rapidly while
school and law enforcement officials in the southeast Idaho
community declined to identify the teacher or discuss what
occurred, other than to say it was ‘regrettable’, involved animal
specimens and happened after school,” reports the Idaho Statesman.

The newspaper adds: “People around the country were
outraged when word spread that Crosland had fed a live puppy to a
turtle in front of students.” Several online petitions calling for
Crosland to be fired were launched, one of which has been signed by more than 190,000
people.

Joy Christensen, chairwoman of the Preston School
Board, told the Statesman that the board would not make any
decisions about Crosland until after the criminal investigation had
concluded.