A teacher at a Texas high school is under investigation after allegedly feeding a sick kitten to a snake in her classroom.
The incident reportedly involved an Advanced Animal Science teacher at Alvord High School in Wise County, who allegedly fed a week-old kitten to a snake and told her students about it, according to a complaint filed with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“According to the complaint, the educator brought in four kittens born to her own cat,” PETA stated on Tuesday, Sept. 23. “After the teacher fed one of the kittens to the snake, an upset student took home the other three kittens.”
Tragically, the three remaining kittens later died.
The complaint also claims the teacher told a student about another pregnant cat at home, saying she fed kittens to snakes there as well, and added, “You can’t save them all.”
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PETA sent an urgent letter to Alvord Independent School District Superintendent Randy Brown, urging an immediate ban on the use of live animals in classrooms and a full investigation into the teacher’s conduct.
In a statement to NBC 5 DFW, Superintendent Brown confirmed that the unnamed teacher “fed an ailing kitten to a snake before the start of the school day and outside the presence of students.”
Brown said the incident was reported to police and the Animal Control Division of the Wise County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 3, prompting an investigation. Authorities reportedly allowed the school to handle the matter, according to NBC 5 and CBS News.
After informing her students about the incident, the teacher “permitted a student, with parental consent, to take the remaining ailing kittens home,” Brown said.
Brown described the teacher as “an experienced educator and animal lover,” noting that she apologized to students and “removed all snakes from her classroom,” per NBC 5 DFW.
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PETA is now calling for a criminal investigation and a ban on live animals in classrooms at the school.
“An educator who should be teaching her students empathy and respect for others is instead tearing newborn kittens from their mother and subjecting them to a painful, terrifying death in front of shocked and traumatized teenagers,” said PETA Vice President Rachelle Owen. “Anyone who would demonstrate such cruel and disturbing behavior shouldn’t be around children or animals.”
