Teacher "euthanizes" baby rabbits with shovel in front of students...

[always quiet]

I guess I should be grateful she wasn't the one to find Thumper. The poor, hamster sized bunny, who couldn't even sit up on her own, with a lop-sided head wouldn't of stood a chance in hell! You're right, it COULD of been a lesson for the kids. I don't know what grade they were in, but it could of been a lesson in how hard it is taking care of an actual human baby as well. It is a 24 hour a day job with round the clock feedings, messes to clean up after and no 'thank yous' when you are finished. The feeling that you have truly made a difference in another life would of been a valuable lesson that would of stuck with those kids for years. What lesson did she teach them? 1. It is only an animal that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of life.
2. Those who are sicker and weaker than the rest do not deserve to live. 3. You can get away with 'violence' to serve the greater good.

 

[Talking Hands]

Killing the animals by using a shovel was poor judgement and the teacher should have used another more humane method. Allowing students to see the animals euthanized by another method would not have been a problem IMHO. It is something that as to be done in farming and high school kids know that especially in a community like Plant City. It didn't say but I doubt it was a general biology class but rather one focusing on raising animals and caring for them.

 

[phisigprincess]

Oh so gross.

 

[Rajah]

Totally uncalled for.

 

[preshi]

That makes me so ill and so so so mad... GAH He should be glad I'm not in charge of things or he'd feel what the backside of a shovel feels like.

 

[maleficent1959]

I guess I'm the only one who isn't up in arms about this. Plant City is an agricultural community, the class was agricultural science (ie farming), they were euthanized in an acceptable way according to local veterinarians, the students were in high school and the bunnies were near death -- one in a water trough and one covered with ants. Her district cleared her of any wrongdoing. It's not like these were suburban elementary students and they were cute cuddly Easter bunnies. These are farm kids for goodness sake.

 

[always quiet]

So being a "farm kid" makes it ok to something that cruel and heartless??? If anything, you think they would understand the value of animals and would of showed some compassion.

My DH was a "farm kid".....never once did he even think that whacking Thumper would of been the best route to go. As a "farm kid" he learned the lesson after he raised a calf. Once big enough, yes, the cow went to market and fed their family of 13. That is different. Even though he was upset, he understood that cattle are used either for milk or for beef. This teacher took it upon herself to decide the fate of these animals. Being covered in ants did not mean "near death". Some water would of taken care of that. As far as the one laying in water...gee...I don't know....no, wait.....I have heard of a new scientific breakthrough for situations such as this. It is called "a towel"!!!

 

[preshi]

No kidding I've seen animals way worse off than with ants on it or haveing been in a puddle that have recovered nicely.... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR this hits my hot spot.

 

[DocRafiki]

I'm sorry, but animals in a "farming community" do not deserve any less than animals in civilization. And yes, this is "uncivilized." Of course this mindset is the big reason why I came down here to practice vet medicine rather than staying up in LA or MS. The "disposable animal" mindset is rampant there.

And BTW, they said ONE vet said it was acceptable. Well guess what; there are TONS of older vets, especially in farming communities, that are practicing medicine from 1950, and it's NOT acceptable. They should have consulted the AVMA guidelines, made by experts on the subject, NOT the opinion of one vet, who is in no way an expert. You would be able to find ONE professional to agree with you on just about any topic you can think of. (If being a vet makes you an expert, put ME on the panel, and the outcome would be QUITE different.)

The status of animals in society is actually improving exponentially every year. This is just one example of someone who is stuck in the "old-school" ideology. The fact that the school board or whoever backed her up is proof that they need to take a step out of the dark ages. This will be illegal some day, and people will look back on things like this in the same way that we look back on slavery.

Oh, and I couldn't agree more with the person who said who is she to determine that the pet was ill. I can't tell you how many people come to me having made that decision for their own pets with absolutely no information to back it up, only to find that it is something completely treatable.

She should be forced to perform community service with the SPCA, IMO, to include touring schools to teach cruelty prevention seminars.

 

[DocRafiki]

Originally posted by always quiet
As far as the one laying in water...gee...I don't know....no, wait.....I have heard of a new scientific breakthrough for situations such as this. It is called "a towel"!!!

That is tooo funny!

 

[always quiet]

If anyone is interested, a search on the internet will bring you to the Plant City High School's website. A look through there will list this teacher's email address. Guess who just got a piece of my mind!!?? ( and yes, I was nice and didn't call her any names!!)

 

[Mermaid02]

Go Colleen!!

 

[DocRafiki]

I've spent way too much time on this. Maybe I will forward it to the Hillsborough County school board.

To read the last word on this subject from the 2000 AVMA report, click here (PDF file)...
http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf


I've copied pertinent sections (inserting my own lettered notations in parentheses and bolding the sections which made this unacceptable in this instance). Forgive typos since I couldn't cut & paste from the PDF file.


This is from pages 682-3 (14-15 on Adobe)

DECAPITATION

Recommendations – This technique is conditionally acceptable if performed correctly, and it should be used in research settings when its use is required by the experimental design and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.(a) The equipment used to perform decapitation should be maintained in good working order and serviced on a regular basis to ensure sharpness of blades.(b) The use of plastic cones to restrain animals appears to reduce stress from handling, minimizes the chance of injury to personnel, and improves positioning of the animal in the guillotine. Decapitation of amphibians…
Those responsible for the use of this technique must ensure that personnel who perform decapitation techniques have been properly trained to do so.(c)

(a) This was obviously not killed for the purpose of research, much less research approved by the IACUC.
(b) Shovel does not = sharp blade.
(c) This person obviously has not been trained in euthanasia, or else she would be following the guidelines. We use a simple injection to euthanize, and in FL you are not even allowed to push the syringe if you have not been trained. Qualified training includes a veterinary doctoral degree, a veterinary technical degree, or a euthanasia certificate. If she were qualified to do this, she would have a piece of paper to prove it.


From Appendix 1 on page 693 (25 on Adobe)

Rabbits –

Acceptable –
Barbiturates, inhalant anesthetics, CO2, CO, KCl in conjunction with general anesthesia

Conditionally acceptable –
N2, Ar, cervical dislocation (<1kg), decapitation, penetrating captive bolt

Again, she did not meet the conditions.

Furthermore, even if this were an acceptable method, the point is that no one qualified had decided that the rabbits should die. I think that teaching kids to make uneducated life and death decisions while ignoring the fact that expert help is available, is a horrible lesson to be teaching.

 

[DocRafiki]

Thanks for the link. I might as well go ahead and forward this. Of course, it won't be read. A letter to the school board might be more appropriate.

 

[always quiet]

Gotta love the line "the use of cones seems to reduce stress". Lord knows, you wouldn't want to 'stress out' an animal before you decapitate it!!!

 

[DocRafiki]

Of course you wouldn't. The point is to make it a peaceful death and avoid needless suffering. I'm sure you wouldn't want your pet to be stressed while he/she were being euthanized.

 

[MosMom]

Good for you guys! It is fortunate that you are a vet in the state of Florida Doc. Perhaps you can make an impact in this case.

 

[vettechick99]

Let me preface this by saying I find that terrible and it makes me sad someone would do that, whether children be present or not. But, when I read this by DocRafiki

but I have the feeling that "shovel to the head" is not one of the acceptable methods.

I giggled. too funny...

 

[always quiet]

Believe me, I wouldn't want my precious little Thumper to be stressed out at any time during her life. It's just that when they consider decapitation occassionally acceptable.....just don't go together. I think the only acceptable way to put down any animal would be to put the animal to sleep. It's just sad when this needs to be considered for any animal.

 

[always quiet]

I just realized something. The article states that the mother pushed them out of their "pen". That seems to indicate that these rabbits weren't even wild ones. They must of been raised in the school!! That sounds even more heartless!!