Science teacher fed live puppy to snapping turtle in front of students, witnesses say

Their natural diets consist primarily of fish and fish carcasses (often ones that are thrown back into the water by fishermen), molluscs, carrion, and amphibians, but they are also known to eat snakes, crayfish, worms, water birds, aquatic plants,

DOGS ARE NOT AMPHIBIANS !

The kids were being misled !

He needs to be fired ASP !

If this happened in a 3rd world country, americans
would be screaming how savage it is ! Oh the
irony . . .

originally posted by: JoshuaCox
a reply to: Vivyinsect

It’s unclear if the dog was alive or dead when Crosland fed it to the turtle and although it happened after school hours, some students did witness the feeding.

HAHA I knew this was a fake story...

I will bet dollars to donuts he fed a dead dog to a turtle and the media is hyping nothing.

This is the forth time you said this story isn't true without providing any evidence in that direction and now you are cherry picking the same links to prove your point...kind of frustrating.

I'm not a gambling man but you are going to loose a lot of dollars this way.

I have been going through news sources all day and nothing points me in the direction that this story is fake.

Here's a picture of the teacher, turtle and tank in question where the teacher can been seen feeding a rat.

And it's not even that much of an unbelievable story if you know that people used to think that drowning an animal does not inflict unnecessary suffering and is an acceptable way to end an animals life.

Even the people defending the teacher aren't denying it was alive.

Amid the outrage and comments of concern for children, Preston parent Farahlyn Hansen said the kids involved weren’t traumatized and that the puppy had been abandoned by its mother. A local farmer brought it to Crosland hoping that he could save it, but it wasn’t accepting nourishment and was expected to die, she said.

“It is important to me for the truth to be out there,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Hansen has two sons — one is a high school freshman and former teacher’s aide to Crosland who developed a love of science after going through his science class, and the other is a sixth-grader who is currently attending the junior high.

After school last Tuesday, Hansen said her older son and a friend stopped at the junior high to pick up her younger son and visit with Crosland, who is helping her son with an Eagle Scout project.

The young pup was the last surviving puppy in a litter that had been abandoned by its mother, Hansen said, and the teacher made efforts to keep the puppy alive, but it was in very poor condition and would not accept food.

“They saw the physical state of the very young puppy. It was sick, wouldn’t accept food, and was dying. All of the three kids that were there felt Robert did the humane and right thing,” Hansen said. “My children work on farms; they understand life and death.”

Crosland allegedly talked to the three boys about death by drowning, saying it was faster and less painful than allowing it to starve to death on the farm, and in its weakened state, the puppy reportedly died quickly, Hansen said.

T he Herald Journal

Peace

a reply to: ToneDeaf

Yeah because there are so many morsel sized mammals in freshwater eco systems. All you've proven is snapping turtles are opportunity carnivores that aren't picky.

originally posted by: TheLotLizard

Exactly why is he demented? Is the turtle demented for eating it? Is it demented to feed reptiles live mammals? Rabbits, mice, rats, birds?

The line is there because people have been brainwashed that certain species are untouchable. In reality we’re all just animals under the sun, no more no less.

Is a sick puppy considered staple food for a turtle...lol

Do you feel that pets are a brainwashed event? Dogs have been connected to man for about 20,000 years. This is why a dog takes to humans as a wolf would not.

originally posted by: ToneDeaf

Their natural diets consist primarily of fish and fish carcasses (often ones that are thrown back into the water by fishermen), molluscs, carrion, and amphibians, but they are also known to eat snakes, crayfish, worms, water birds, aquatic plants,

DOGS ARE NOT AMPHIBIANS !

The kids were being misled !

He needs to be fired ASP !

If this happened in a 3rd world country, americans
would be screaming how savage it is ! Oh the
irony . . .

3rd world countries eat their dogs and their turtles.

What in the great blue bob does a puppy not being an amphibian have to do with this?

Snapping turtles eat anything they can get their beaks on, dead or alive.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
I had a coworker with a 22' reticulated python. He feeds it piglets every week.

Some claim pigs are one of the smartest mammals. Other thing they're very cute. Oh, and they taste like humans. Crap, we eat them too.

Dang, what a horrible waste of bacon!

I'd go for kittens. We can't eat kittens here.

originally posted by: silo13

3rd world countries eat their dogs and their turtles.

What in the great blue bob does a puppy not being an amphibian have to do with this?

Snapping turtles eat anything they can get their beaks on, dead or alive.

Some countries and certain breeds. If you are in a country were they are eating all their dogs it is due to people starving. If you look at the picture the teacher looks very excited about feeding live animals to his turtle, I'm thinking that is a little strange. I'm not sure too many parents would be happy with this man teaching the facts of death to their kids, and while using a puppy to maybe be prove some point. In any case he most likely had that same look of excitement....

Sick #s do what sick #s do.

Ahh, look how happy he is.. really enjoying the moment.

a reply to: Xtrozero

I will say again, I believe the only outrage is over the choice of a puppy shouldn't have been on the turtles appetizer list.

Would people still be crying over their veal piccata had it been a rat?

We're not teaching kids moral issues but politically correct ones.

I have a huge problem with that.

I thougt someone would have figured that out by now here on ATS.

originally posted by: silo13
a reply to: Xtrozero

I will say again, I believe the only outrage is over the choice of a puppy shouldn't have been on the turtles appetizer list.

Would people still be crying over their veal piccata had it been a rat?

We're not teaching kids moral issues but politically correct ones.

I have a huge problem with that.

I thougt someone would have figured that out by now here on ATS.

I'm not sure your point...the turtle needs to eat or die. Does that mean holding a live rat or puppy over the water edge so everyone can watch the turtle kill something....in school?

Snapping turtles are omnivores and will eat a whole bunch of stuff. In the wild, they'll eat water plants, fish, frogs, pollywogs, newts, bugs, snails, worms, and snakes. They'll even eat a small mammal or a baby duck! You'll probably just go to your local pet store to buy turtle food, minnows, worms, or crickets.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I just think there is a level of sick in his actions that he disguises it off as science.

a reply to: silo13
While that is nature at its finest. How are we to know that the sick puppy would not get better in a few days if he was not feed to a turtle?

That to is nature at its finest, stupid doing stupid things. I would be much more in favor of feeding certain humans to snapping turtles before feeding sick puppies.

In fact that should be a hash tag...#saveapuppy feedhungryturtutles ahuman.

Crap my hastag picture wont load for some reason!

Oh well you get the picture anyways. To many dam people around anyways, more then a few of the would make good turtle feed.

a reply to: silo13

Hi Silo...it's been a long time. How are you holding up.?

I see you are kicking up quite some dust. Do you mind if I give you my perspective?

I understand what you are saying in that there is really no difference between eating a rat or a dog and on the surface you are correct. The only difference is cultural and where some cultures condemn the eating of dogs and cats, others see it as normal...there really is no right or wrong.

I do disagree with you on the fact that this is purely a PC issue. The ethical question here is if it's okay to let any animal suffer because of our choices.

I know most people will not say much about feeding live rats to pet snakes and defend this position by stating that it is healthy and natural for the snake to feed like this but on the flip-side, this is only true if the snake is not domesticated and one should question what it is doing in a glass box in the first place.

Domestication means an animal that has been tamed and kept by humans as a work animal, food source, or pet, especially a member of those species that have, through selective breeding, become notably different from their wild ancestors.

When domesticating animals we change certain traits of the animal. My dog, for instance, does not have the need to kill it's own prey while his wild ancestor does. There are certain snakes that can be considered domesticated like, for instance, the corn snake and in captivity have all of their habitat needs met, therefore the snakes have no reason to act natural and kill their own prey. Feeding your snake pre-killed feeder rats or other rodents is also safer for the reptile.

I believe that if you take any animal out of it's natural habitat and domesticate it for whatever purpose you also have the obligation to cater for the animal's biological and psychological needs which also includes avoiding unnecessary pain or suffering.

I wouldn't have a problem with eating any animal if it was bred for this purpose and did not have to suffer unnecessary in order to get to my plate.

Feeding a live puppy to a snapping turtle in a classroom is wrong for many reasons.

-First a snapping turtle can not be considered a pet! The only way a snapping turtle thrives in captivity is if its owner treats it with respect and as the wild animal it is. Meaning it shouldn't be in a fish tank in the first place!

-The puppy (and also the rat) are bred and/or domesticated. Which means we have the obligation the prevent it from unnecessary suffering.

-What is the educational value of showing children how a wild animal behaves in captivity when it it is introduced to food that normally wouldn't belong to it's regular diet?

I am sure I left out a lot of good arguments against feeding live puppies to other animals but I am sure when even a country like China, which allows the consumption of dog meat, stand up to protest against this kind of cruelty to animals there must be a valid ethical reason..

Warning! graphical content...Chinese zoo feeds puppy to hungry python

Peace

Cripes... you people with this nature argument

Even in nature, the puppy wouldn't have been alone dropped into a tank with a predator...

what kind of puppy was this?

Small breeds couldn't survive in the wild... so lets say this was a shepherd puppy

Mom is close by... guess who wins in the mom shepherd VS turtle war

Fact is this is animal abuse... the man should be charged with it...

And children of said age should not be exposed to said experience to "teach" them life lessons... they will eventually learn them on their own

Sadist. This teacher should have been fired that day. Why is he still employed? Why is there any question from the school at all? I love animals and have cared for exotics that need to be fed something..'warm'.. but- we always and I mean ALWAYS - dispatched the 'food' quickly and painlessly. It was very hard for me to do but it would have been much worse if they were thrown in the tanks live. We are supposedly a compassionate species, when we have the means to erase suffering, cruelty and torture and don't...? I can't even..
There is a petition online to put forth that he be fired that has almost 25k signatures already. Does anybody know if or how those actually work?

originally posted by: silo13
That's what science is all about baby.

You? A proponent of science? Sure, ok.

Survival of the fittest.

Let us all know when you're sick next time and we'll feed you to a great white shark.

Survival of the fittest in action, baby.

a reply to: silo13

A matter of perception and feelings as always and with everything is the issue here.

People will cry poor puppy while sitting down to a lamb for dinner.
They will cry about cultures that will eat cats and dogs and other animals they label inedible, while eating a hamburger and talking about how silly Indians are for thinking cows are sacred.
It's like those who are vegan and feel they are saintly because they contribute to no harm of animals while they live in a house full of, and use, products made of animals bits daily.

It's just humanity and the cultural identities we create. We often do not see our own irony and hypocrisy.
One mans pet is another mans meal.

Sadly you'll rarely get people to see this double standard. We often fail to see, or choose to ignore, our own faults while pointing out exactly what others are doing wrong.

I agree, a turtle eating a puppy is no different than a snake eating mice or human eating a pig.
Feeding animal A to animal B as food is wrong. But killing an animal so kids can cut them up because education is a-okay.

Yep, some of us can see # for what it truly is.
(Love the South Park episode about Japanese Whaling. Remember kids, no need to kill and eat whales and dolphins when you have animals that are acceptable like Cows, Chicken, Pigs and sheep etc.:ham

So I guess for me the issue is one of context. The where, when, what, how, and why? The intent of the teacher and the circumstances. The specifics of why a puppy was the food of choice. Was it the only viable option? Was it a lesson? Or was it a sign of some kind of mental health issue and a show of deeper issues that should be a concern regarding any adult around children?
I mean most western people especially trained educators would surely know a puppy would be a bad choice of snack in a western culture?

But yeah. Meat is meat to me. It would be this persons motivation that concern me.
Alas most people will see "puppy" and just knee jerk react with "OMG MONSTER" while chowing down on a hot dog. (pun intended)

But yes, we all have our own ideas of right and wrong, and that is all a subject like this will tend to bring out.
"My thoughts are right. Yours are wrong. Facts be damned. Respect my feels." and that's about all.
non-bias and discussion based on subjectivity will be in the minority I reckon.

But maybe it is time we stopped sugar coating the world and lying to kids. Nothing eats Puppies, Santa Claus is real and if you're naughty the boogey man under the bed will get you.

When we keep distorting reality as we do, is it any wonder kids are now turning into unicorns and # and society seems to be going backwards faster than our technology advances now?

Me personally? I am seeing a connection. Maybe reality really is what we observe.....

a reply to: AtomicKangaroo

Wrong!!

Eating a dog = okay

Eating a dog after you set on fire and beat it to death with a stick = wrong

This seems to be very hard to understand for some.

Peace

originally posted by: operation mindcrime
a reply to: AtomicKangaroo

Wrong!!

Eating a dog = okay

Eating a dog after you set on fire and beat it to death with a stick = wrong

This seems to be very hard to understand for some.

Peace

Sounds like obama's recipe, sans garlic.

a reply to: ToneDeaf

What if the dog was already dead and it died totally unconnected to the feeding???

The fact the articles keep adding “we don’t know if the puppy was alive or not”.. which if you ask me almost certainly means the dog was already dead.