Alvord, Texas: Students in shock after teacher feeds live kitten to classroom snake

WARNING GRAPHIC DETAILS

Parents and students have been left horrified after a teacher reportedly fed a live kitten to one of her snakes in a US classroom.

The female animal science teacher has animal welfare organisations up in arms after the school children complained about her deplorable act.

Students were in shock, and the teacher at the school in Alvord, Texas, has been forced to issue an apology after she allegedly fed the cat to one of the classroom snakes.

Formal complaints were made on behalf of some of the students, claiming the teacher brought four sick kittens to the school after her cat gave birth at home.

The Daily Mail reports the complainants accused the woman of feeding one of the sick animals to the snake while it was still alive.

After declaring that all four of the kittens were sick, the teacher allegedly told the class “you can’t save them all” which left many of them traumatised.

One student reportedly took the remaining three cats home in a bid to save them, however, they all later died.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been left outraged and is calling for a broader investigation into animal welfare in classrooms across the US.

“If reports are true, 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 traumatised teenagers,” PETA Vice President Rachelle Owen said.

“Anyone who would demonstrate such cruel and disturbing behaviour shouldn’t be around children or animals, and PETA is calling for an immediate investigation and a ban on live animals in all Alvord classrooms.”

Conflicting reports have surfaced about whether the students actually witnessed the animal being eaten, with Alvord School Superintendent Randy Brown confirming the teacher did feed one “ailing” kitten to a snake “outside the presence of students”.

The Alvord ISD Police Department and the Wise County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control investigated the incident soon after a parent reported it, but they referred the matter to the district administration to determine the next steps.

No criminal charges were filed.

“The teacher, an experienced educator and animal lover, has apologised to the students for her actions and voluntarily removed all snakes from her classroom,” Mr Brown said.

The parent whose child took home the other three kittens, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that her daughter texted her on September 3 asking if she could take the kittens home.

When asked why, the high school student told her mother that her friends “watched a snake eat the kitten during the teacher’s class” earlier in the day.

“It was really hard on her — she was up every two hours trying to feed them,” the student’s mother said.

“A couple days later, the teacher is saying, ‘Thanks to whoever turned me in,’ and trying to justify it.”