Would You Fire This Teacher ?

[lizbud]

Teacher Allegedly Beats Rabbits To Death In Front Of Kids

POSTED: 6:40 a.m. EST March 25, 2004

PLANT CITY, Fla. -- Authorities in Plant City said a high school science teacher killed a sickly pair of baby rabbits with a shovel in front of her stunned class. She then asked the students to help bury the day-old animals.

Teacher Jane Bender won't face criminal charges, but she is facing two civil counts of animal cruelty that carry fines of $620.

One Animal Services investigator said Bender has to be held accountable, because her actions are "just not what we want to teach people to do with injured or sick animals."

The rabbits were not likely to survive on their own.

A sheriff's spokesman said Bender told investigators she asked a student to dig a hole, but the class refused to help in burying the rabbits.

[2kitties]

um, wow. YES.

[aly]

UHHHHHHHHHHHH - what in the world?

Um, if that happened to me while I was in class, I would have been so traumatized, I would have had to switch schools or something!

[Corinna]

YES!!!!!!!! what age group did this idiot teach? What are parent reactions?

[Uabassoon]

I can't believe the fine is only $620!

[Karen]

Where did the rabbits come from? Were they wild rabbits? How did she get them? It seems like half a story. She should apologize to the students, get some tact lessons, and should not have expected them to help her bury them.

[RICHARD]

The rabbits were born to a rabbit that was kept as part of the Ag program on campus....Mom refused to feed them and pushed them out of the 'nest'.

[mugsy]

I would want the entire story, but, OMG....what a moron. While my heart says she should be fired, I don't know what grounds they would use and if there was a strong enough union in her district, they would get her her job back.

Why do they allow these people to exist in a "civilized" world? I hope she doesn't have kids (ie...they allowed her to breed).

[ramanth]

*is very stunned*

[CathyBogart]

Killing them with a shovel certainly wouldn't have been my recourse, and any euthanasia in front of a class of students is a bad idea...someone is going to freak out.

Fired? I don't think so...educated and given the number of the nearest veterinary hospital for next time? Yeah, definitely.

[lizbud]

The news account that I quoted was from a local ABC news
website. Here's a more detailed one from another ABC site,

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Li...ed_040319.html

I believe she should be suspended AND charged with animal
abuse. What was this woman thinking?

[carole]

FIRE her for sure, I would protest as a parent, and make sure she got the boot, disgusting, fancy showing our younger generation such an act, my daughter would be very traumitised by something as awful as that, GET THE SQUAD AND FIRE HER.

[Denyce]

SHE TOLD THEM TO BURY THEM ALIVE!!!!!!

OMG!!!

yes absolutely this woman should be fired! And a much greater fine than she received. If I was a parent I would be livid at such a total disregard for life! How absolutely horrible! What is wrong with some people.

Denyce

[DJFyrewolf36]

Um ewww?

Personally I would have went to an er um VET concidering they are trained to handle this sort of thing...I mean come on...even if the rabbits werent going to live, they should have been given the best possible chance. Ugh...stupid people...

[G.P.girl]

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.

OMG! at first i would have said don't fire her, butnow...i think she sould definatly be fired! and have to pay alot more than $1240!! if i wre in her class i would have thrown myself on top of the whole to save them