Meet Robert Crosland, the teacher who allegedly fed a puppy to a snapping turtle.
Lovers of puppies — so basically everyone — you may want to turn back now. A middle school teacher in Idaho is under investigation for allegedly feeding a puppy to a snapping turtle. Everyone all together now "what the..."
Robert Crosland, a science teacher in Preston, Idaho is the subject of a new police investigation that alleges he fed a puppy to a classroom snapping turtle during after school hours. Here's what we know so far about this story that seems like it's straight out of a Goosebumps book.
It's not known if the puppy was alive or dead.
Authorities haven't yet confirmed whether the puppy was alive or already dead at the time of the feeding. The puppy was believed to be disfigured according to local news affiliate Fox 13.
“I feel a little better that it was a puppy that was going to die, not just a healthy puppy,” said Este Hull, a seventh-grader at the school. Crosland has been known to feed mice, birds, and even guinea pigs to snakes and other reptiles in the classroom.
Regardless of this, the news isn't going over well with puppy-lovers. "What I have learned in the last four days is disgusting. It is sick. It is sick," said Jill Parish, the woman who filed the police report.
"I have a feeling that Betsy DeVos would TOTALLY support a teacher who feeds puppies to snapping turtles in class," wrote Roland Scahill on Twitter.
Robert Crosland is a popular teacher at Preston Junior High.
Despite the unsettling news, Crosland has been a popular teacher with students who say they enjoy his class. “He is a cool teacher who really brought science to life,” said Hull before adding, “I loved his class because he had turtles and snakes and other cool things.”
Some parents of students in Crosland's class weren't bothered by the news and summed it up as the "circle of life."
"He’s the best science teacher Preston Junior High has," said parent Julie Johnson. "If you’re not fine with it, leave the room," added parent Annette Salvesen.
Currently, Crosland is still employed at the middle school.
School district administrators were made aware of the incident not long after it occurred. The school district released a statement following the news reading: "We hope that any errors in judgment made by a teacher in this instance will not cause us to forget the years of care, effort, and passion the teacher has given to students..."
The investigation is still undergoing and no action has been taken against Crosland for the feeding as of yet.
"We’re investigating the facts and turning it over to the prosecutor," said Franklin County Sheriff, David Fryar. "He’s the one who will determine if the law has been broken."