No charges for students and teacher who killed a cat - mail your opinions

Warning: graphic article

If anyone else would care to send a mail to the journalist who covered
the story and tell him how repugnant you think this is, the contact
number is in the article. I took them out of this repost for Usenet so
the poor guy doesn't get hit by spammers.

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2...cal/news02.txt

Prosecutor won't file charges in cat killing :Circumstances found not to
be malicious

By Casey Santee - Journal Writer


POCATELLO - Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Hiedeman said Wednesday no
criminal charges will be filed against Marsh Valley High School teacher
Gordon Gillman or his students who killed a cat in a classroom Jan. 16.

The Bannock County Sheriff's Department finished its investigation into
the incident Monday and handed the case over to prosecutors.


"Animal cruelty is a serious crime and it is our policy to diligently
prosecute animal cruelty cases when the facts of the case support the
charge ... The facts of this case do not support charging the involved
individuals with animal cruelty," Hiedeman's office stated in a press
release.

Witnesses were interviewed and the circumstances surrounding the cat's
demise were found not to be malicious, Heideman's office concluded.

According to the Bannock County Sheriff's report, the cat was a nuisance
in the Vo/Ag class for a few weeks before being cornered by four male
students the day of the incident.

It then ran toward one of the boys and latched onto his right leg with
its claws. He shook his leg until it fell off and ran toward the other
two boys, one of whom hit it in the head with a broomstick. The cat fell
onto its side unconscious and went into convulsions.

According to the report, one of the boys then placed his foot on the
cat's neck and told Gillman, who saw it twitching on the floor.

According to Gillman's statement, his advice to students at that point
was "put it out of its misery."

The boy then pushed down harder and twisted his foot, killing the cat.

The report also states Gillman's statement to police was consistent with
those of the students.

"(Gillman) did not at any time ... direct any of the kids to chase the
cat or kill the cat," the report reads.

Much of the controversy surrounding the incident arose from comments
made by Marsh Valley resident Debbie Hawthorne. She said one of the boys
involved told her Gillman instructed them to "kill the cat and use
brooms or stomp it to death."

Casey Santee covers courts, law enforcement and health care for the
Idaho State Journal. He can be reached at [number removed for usenet],
or by e-mail at [email removed for usenet]

--
--
~kaeli~
If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

The Bannock County Sheriff's Department finished its investigation into
the incident Monday and handed the case over to prosecutors.

I generally don't read articles posted about animal abuse. I see too much of it
in real life and it upsets me to read it when I can't do anything about it
anyway.
This one snuck up on me and I am so livid I am shaking.
Please, please, just this once, let's *all* speak for those who can't speak for
themselves. Write/call the school, the sheriff's department, the DA, whatever
and be heard.
I have the phone numbers & snail mail addresses for the Sheriff's Department,
and the phone number for the Marsh Valley High School. Please e-mail me for
them, or you can easily get them yourself through information services.
A special place in hell, indeed.

Sherry

The Bannock County Sheriff's Department finished its investigation into
the incident Monday and handed the case over to prosecutors.

I generally don't read articles posted about animal abuse. I see too much of it
in real life and it upsets me to read it when I can't do anything about it
anyway.
This one snuck up on me and I am so livid I am shaking.
Please, please, just this once, let's *all* speak for those who can't speak for
themselves. Write/call the school, the sheriff's department, the DA, whatever
and be heard.
I have the phone numbers & snail mail addresses for the Sheriff's Department,
and the phone number for the Marsh Valley High School. Please e-mail me for
them, or you can easily get them yourself through information services.
A special place in hell, indeed.

Sherry

Marsh Valley High School
Address:
12655 South Old Highway 91
Arimo, ID
83214-1613
Phone Number: (208) 254-3711

"Sherry " wrote in message
...
The Bannock County Sheriff's Department finished its investigation into
the incident Monday and handed the case over to prosecutors.

I generally don't read articles posted about animal abuse. I see too much
of it
in real life and it upsets me to read it when I can't do anything about it
anyway.
This one snuck up on me and I am so livid I am shaking.
Please, please, just this once, let's *all* speak for those who can't
speak for
themselves. Write/call the school, the sheriff's department, the DA,
whatever
and be heard.
I have the phone numbers & snail mail addresses for the Sheriff's
Department,
and the phone number for the Marsh Valley High School. Please e-mail me
for
them, or you can easily get them yourself through information services.
A special place in hell, indeed.

Sherry

Marsh Valley High School
Address:
12655 South Old Highway 91
Arimo, ID
83214-1613
Phone Number: (208) 254-3711

"Sherry " wrote in message
...
The Bannock County Sheriff's Department finished its investigation into
the incident Monday and handed the case over to prosecutors.

I generally don't read articles posted about animal abuse. I see too much
of it
in real life and it upsets me to read it when I can't do anything about it
anyway.
This one snuck up on me and I am so livid I am shaking.
Please, please, just this once, let's *all* speak for those who can't
speak for
themselves. Write/call the school, the sheriff's department, the DA,
whatever
and be heard.
I have the phone numbers & snail mail addresses for the Sheriff's
Department,
and the phone number for the Marsh Valley High School. Please e-mail me
for
them, or you can easily get them yourself through information services.
A special place in hell, indeed.

Sherry

kaeli
alerts us to
...the journalist who covered
the story and tell him how repugnant you think this is, the contact
number is in the article....
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/

I sent off a letter to the reporter and another one to the editor....first, the
article doesn't state why they considered the cat a nuisance (obviously,
because the cat was there). Next, it didn't say what, if any, steps were taken
to humanely remove the cat. As for the actual event...add the first two (above)
plus a question as to why the teacher had no clue that a cornered cat (who was
not a pet of someone in the classroom) would not obviously defend
him/herself..AND why the teacher had S-T-U-D-E-N-T-S, rather than (duh) animal
care professionals or adults who had a clue removing the cat!

kaeli
alerts us to
...the journalist who covered
the story and tell him how repugnant you think this is, the contact
number is in the article....
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/

I sent off a letter to the reporter and another one to the editor....first, the
article doesn't state why they considered the cat a nuisance (obviously,
because the cat was there). Next, it didn't say what, if any, steps were taken
to humanely remove the cat. As for the actual event...add the first two (above)
plus a question as to why the teacher had no clue that a cornered cat (who was
not a pet of someone in the classroom) would not obviously defend
him/herself..AND why the teacher had S-T-U-D-E-N-T-S, rather than (duh) animal
care professionals or adults who had a clue removing the cat!

Regarding the report of the incident where a teacher allowed students to kill a
cat while she looked on....

Please read the story (link provided in original post) and write a letter to
the reporter AND the editor of the paper. If possible, also write in protest to
the idiots who allowed everyone involved - students AND the teacher - to go
free.

According to the article:
1) Cat was considered a pest for weeks, yet nothing was done for humane removal
of the cat. No animal control or feline care personnel were called.

I ask: Did the teacher suffer from a mental or physical ailment which prevented
her from calling for humane removal?

2) Teacher allowed students - (boys who were unable to have the
wisdom/knowledge or mental wherewithall to know which way was up, what was
humane or correct) to run wildly around the room - thrashing about - scaring
the cat silly - forcing the cat to defend him/herself. When cat defended
him/herself, 1-2 of the boys whacked the cat on the head with a broom...WHILE
THE TEACHER LOOKED ON!.

I ask: If the teacher did NOT suffer from any physical or mental ailment which
prevented her from stepping in to stop the infliction of pain & murder of the
cat, did this teacher want the cat to suffer in such an inhumane fashion?

I also ask, since these two boys demonstrated deviant behavior that is one of
the early signs of psycopathic behavior, why were they NOT detained for arrest
and/or mental evaluation?

3) Article says "According to the report, one of the boys then placed his foot
on the cat's neck and told Gillman, (the teacher) who saw it twitching on the
floor." Boy continued to apply pressure - killing the cat. It was claimed that
the teacher instructed to put the cat out of "its" misery!

I ask again: Did the teacher have a stroke or become a quadrapalegic during the
minutes - whether 3-5-10-15-20+ minutes of this horrific incident? If not, then
why did she not open her mouth? walk over to yank the broom out of the boys'
hands (boys who expect and should receive guidance from a supposed mature
thinking adult with a brain)? Why did she not scream aloud or yell S-T-O-P when
viewing the cat on the floor and a student stepping on the cat's neck? Why
wasn't there a background check to see if she - indeed - abused animals in the
past?

Regarding the report of the incident where a teacher allowed students to kill a
cat while she looked on....

Please read the story (link provided in original post) and write a letter to
the reporter AND the editor of the paper. If possible, also write in protest to
the idiots who allowed everyone involved - students AND the teacher - to go
free.

According to the article:
1) Cat was considered a pest for weeks, yet nothing was done for humane removal
of the cat. No animal control or feline care personnel were called.

I ask: Did the teacher suffer from a mental or physical ailment which prevented
her from calling for humane removal?

2) Teacher allowed students - (boys who were unable to have the
wisdom/knowledge or mental wherewithall to know which way was up, what was
humane or correct) to run wildly around the room - thrashing about - scaring
the cat silly - forcing the cat to defend him/herself. When cat defended
him/herself, 1-2 of the boys whacked the cat on the head with a broom...WHILE
THE TEACHER LOOKED ON!.

I ask: If the teacher did NOT suffer from any physical or mental ailment which
prevented her from stepping in to stop the infliction of pain & murder of the
cat, did this teacher want the cat to suffer in such an inhumane fashion?

I also ask, since these two boys demonstrated deviant behavior that is one of
the early signs of psycopathic behavior, why were they NOT detained for arrest
and/or mental evaluation?

3) Article says "According to the report, one of the boys then placed his foot
on the cat's neck and told Gillman, (the teacher) who saw it twitching on the
floor." Boy continued to apply pressure - killing the cat. It was claimed that
the teacher instructed to put the cat out of "its" misery!

I ask again: Did the teacher have a stroke or become a quadrapalegic during the
minutes - whether 3-5-10-15-20+ minutes of this horrific incident? If not, then
why did she not open her mouth? walk over to yank the broom out of the boys'
hands (boys who expect and should receive guidance from a supposed mature
thinking adult with a brain)? Why did she not scream aloud or yell S-T-O-P when
viewing the cat on the floor and a student stepping on the cat's neck? Why
wasn't there a background check to see if she - indeed - abused animals in the
past?

I hope she dies some awful way very soon and the students, too. I'll be
calling that pathetic excuse for a school, possibly harrassing them. ****ers.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)