When she was scheduled for work over the weekend, a high school agriculture teacher grinned and had on a “Teach Ag” T-shirt, two days after it was purported that she had been seen on camera giving students a practical demonstration of how to staple a screaming, wide-awake cat’s incision.
The footage, which was aired by the local news outlet, purportedly showed the 25-year-old Emily Marie Benner’s agricultural animal science class at Westwood High School, a public school in Palestine, Texas, last Friday, included the cat being stapled while it was awake and resisting being held down by students, turned over, and so on.
As of Sunday, Benner was charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals following that incident. He responded with a smile and a message-emblazoned T-shirt after being placed under arrest.
According to the superintendent of Westwood ISD’s statement, the school responded to the “deeply troubling incident,” which apparently resulted in the cat being transported to the doctor, in a very different way.
Wade Stanford wrote to parents and kids, saying, “This procedure amounted to animal cruelty, and we want to make it absolutely clear that our district takes matters extremely seriously,” according to a report from KLTV. “We deeply regret the distress this incident has caused, particularly to our students who were involved or witnessed it.”
The superintendent stated that the district will take “immediate and decisive action to address this issue,” without immediately disclosing what will be done in response to the “unacceptable occurrence.” According to state records, as of Thursday, Benner had a “valid” credential that allows him to teach in Texas public schools.
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The video’s “behavior,” according to Stanford, “is not in line with the values and standards we uphold.”
According to Anderson County Jail documents, Benner, an Oakwood resident, was taken into custody on Sunday but was later freed after posting a $7,500 bond. Although it’s unclear if she has legal representation, it seems like she has at least one viable defense.
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