Sick rabbits beaten to death with shovel Plant City, FL (US) Incident Date: Saturday, Jan 31, 2004 County: Hillsborough Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Jane Bender

Case ID: 2119 Classification: Beating Animal: rabbit (pet) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

A high school science teacher killed a pair of sickly rabbits with a shovel as her stunned class looked on, then asked the students to help bury the day-old animals, authorities said.

Plant City High School teacher Jane Bender will not face criminal charges, but authorities brought two civil counts of animal cruelty that carry fines of $620.

Investigators said Bender killed the rabbits and buried them in a field near the school's agricultural lab with two others from the same litter that had died. The rabbits -- about the size of chicken eggs -- were not likely to survive on their own.

Bender told investigators that she asked a student to dig a hole, but the class refused to help in burying the rabbits, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said.

"We felt this person had to be held accountable. It's just not what we want to teach people to do with injured or sick animals," county Animal Services investigator Dennis McCullough said Tuesday.

The civil penalties require Bender to pay $310 for each count, or request a court hearing where she can appeal the fine.

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References

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