Idaho teacher accused of feeding puppy to turtle is charged

A common snapping turtle, photographed at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, Missouri, May 20, 2011 | Photo by Dakota L. via Wikimedia Commons, St. George News

PRESTON, IDAHO (AP) — An Idaho teacher accused of feeding a sick puppy to a snapping turtle in front of several students has been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Preston Junior High School science teacher Robert Crosland was charged Friday. He faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.

The Idaho attorney general’s office handled the investigation after Franklin County Prosecutor Vic Pearson cited a conflict of interest.

The school is in rural Preston, where the 2004 teen cult classic film “Napoleon Dynamite” was set.

Several parents came forward to say Crosland fed the puppy to the turtle on March 7. Several weeks later, state officials seized the turtle and euthanized it as a non-native species.

Attempts to reach Crosland at the school Friday were not successful.

Written by The Associated Press.

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6 Comments

  • statusquo June 3, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    Turtles got to eat too!

  • Craig June 3, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    My father would suggest we got rid of the town square whipping post too soon.

  • comments June 3, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    These schoolchildren need to stop acting like little crybabies. They all need a trip to the slaughterhouse–for beefs, porks, and poultry. Do they think meat grows on trees? In china puppy soup is gonna be on the menu all over the place. Today’s children live such sheltered crybaby lives. Let the turtle enjoy a bit of fresh meat. The thing is a predator after all. Guy should’ve had better sense and fed it a big rat or something, but still, most these dogs just end up being put down in pounds anyway.

  • PlanetU June 3, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    Sick…. some of the comments are too. teacher is … I’d like to feed his junk to a snapping turtle or a pit bull.
    Ed. Ellipsis.

  • Nobody June 5, 2018 at 4:59 am

    I agree with the comment above. What the hell is wrong with people? Especially some of the comments on this. Wonder how they would like it if some huge animal tore chunks out of them while while they were dying a slow and agonizing death. SMFH (PS: No I’m not a liberal either, this is wrong no matter where you stand)

  • Rob83 June 5, 2018 at 7:56 am

    Touchy subject for sure. I feel bad for that puppy though, he didn’t deserve to die a even more painful death than what he was already facing

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