- Jan 7, 2002
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PLANT CITY, Fla. -- A veteran Plant City High School agricultural science teacher faces fines and criticism after killing two day-old rabbits with a shovel as her stunned class looked on, authorities said Tuesday.
But Jane Bender won't face criminal charges for killing the sickly rabbits, which had been rejected by their mother, officials said.
Investigators said Bender killed two rabbits and buried them in a field near the agricultural lab with two others from the same litter that had died.
"We felt this person had to be held accountable," said Hillsborough County Animal Services investigator Dennis McCullough, whose agency filed two civil counts of animal cruelty against Bender. "It's just not what we want to teach people to do with injured or sick animals."
The civil penalties imposed by Animal Services require Bender to pay $310 for each count, or request a court hearing.
Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said the rabbits were born in Bender's agriculture lab last month. Two died at birth, and the mother rejected the other two, pushing both out of the outdoor pen in the school's agricultural complex soon after they were born.
One was found covered with fire ants, and the other was lying in a water trough.
Bender told investigators that on Feb. 12 she asked one student to dig a hole and explained to the class that the rabbits could not survive after being rejected by their mother.
She then placed all four in the hole and, in view of the class, killed the two live rabbits by dismembering them with a shovel, Reder said. The rabbits were about the size of chicken eggs.
It wasn't clear how close the students, age from 15 to 18, were when Bender euthanized the animals.
One student told investigators Bender asked the class to help her bury the rabbits, but they refused, Reder said.
No one answered the phone at homes listed to a Jane Bender in Plant City and nearby Tampa.
The State Attorney's Office "rejected any notion" of filing criminal charges, Reder said. "They were 1 day old, in poor health, and she used a shovel."
The Hillsborough County school district is reviewing the case, and Bender will meet with the district's Office of Professional Standards when she returns from spring break Monday, spokesman Mark Hart said.
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But Jane Bender won't face criminal charges for killing the sickly rabbits, which had been rejected by their mother, officials said.
Investigators said Bender killed two rabbits and buried them in a field near the agricultural lab with two others from the same litter that had died.
"We felt this person had to be held accountable," said Hillsborough County Animal Services investigator Dennis McCullough, whose agency filed two civil counts of animal cruelty against Bender. "It's just not what we want to teach people to do with injured or sick animals."
The civil penalties imposed by Animal Services require Bender to pay $310 for each count, or request a court hearing.
Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said the rabbits were born in Bender's agriculture lab last month. Two died at birth, and the mother rejected the other two, pushing both out of the outdoor pen in the school's agricultural complex soon after they were born.
One was found covered with fire ants, and the other was lying in a water trough.
Bender told investigators that on Feb. 12 she asked one student to dig a hole and explained to the class that the rabbits could not survive after being rejected by their mother.
She then placed all four in the hole and, in view of the class, killed the two live rabbits by dismembering them with a shovel, Reder said. The rabbits were about the size of chicken eggs.
It wasn't clear how close the students, age from 15 to 18, were when Bender euthanized the animals.
One student told investigators Bender asked the class to help her bury the rabbits, but they refused, Reder said.
No one answered the phone at homes listed to a Jane Bender in Plant City and nearby Tampa.
The State Attorney's Office "rejected any notion" of filing criminal charges, Reder said. "They were 1 day old, in poor health, and she used a shovel."
The Hillsborough County school district is reviewing the case, and Bender will meet with the district's Office of Professional Standards when she returns from spring break Monday, spokesman Mark Hart said.
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