Student withdraws from school in wake of dog mutilation incident
BUCYRUS — A student has withdrawn from school in connection with a recent animal mutilation incident.
Officials at Pioneer Career and Technology Center in Shelby learned late Wednesday that "a graphic and very disturbing video" was being circulated on social media, Superintendent Greg Nickoli said in a statement issued Saturday.
The Crawford County Sheriff's Office received a report Jan. 14 that a dog's severed head had been found on a guardrail at Stetzer and Parcher roads, Sheriff Scott Kent said Friday.
A short video obtained by the Telegraph-Forum late Friday shows a young man, apparently a teenager, placing the severed head of a brown-and-white hound on a guardrail.
More: Dog mutilation case investigated by Crawford County Sheriff's Office
The teen in the video wears a long-sleeved, dark-blue "Pioneer" hoodie and jeans.
"We contacted the authorities, who were already aware of and investigating the incident by that time," Nickoli said. "We were then contacted by administrators at Bucyrus High School and spoke to the student and family by phone. The student has since withdrawn from school."
Chief Deputy Chad Filliater said Friday both the dog's owners and the person involved in placing the head on the guardrail had been identified.
No charges have been filed, Kent said Friday, adding "they're juveniles, so I can't release their information." On Saturday, a representative of the sheriff's office said no new information was available.
PETA offers kindness-to-animals curriculum
In the wake of the incident, the national animal rights organization PETA is offering to provide a kindness-to-animals curriculum to Crawford County schools.
In a news release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said its humane education division, TeachKind, had sent a letter Nickoli, offering to provide Pioneer and surrounding schools with a K-12 kindness-to-animals curriculum and "Empathy Now,” a guide to preventing youth violence against animals.
Nickoli confirmed he received the offer early Friday evening.
"We will review their materials and work to integrate their concepts wherever appropriate," he said.
The Norfolk, Virginia-based organization said in its news release that it is also offering to host free, virtual empathy-building virtual presentations to help prevent future violence.
“If reports are true that this teenager killed and decapitated this dog and then bragged about it on social media, he needs psychiatric counseling and should be barred from ever being around animals again,” said Marta Holmberg, PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs, in the news release. “In the meantime, PETA’s TeachKind is on standby to help schools teach students that violence is wrong, whether the victim is an animal or a classmate.”
According to PETA's news release, "TeachKind notes that research shows that 43% of perpetrators of schoolyard massacres first committed acts of cruelty against animals, usually against dogs and cats — so juvenile animal abusers pose a serious threat to the community at large."
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Student withdraws from school in wake of dog mutilation incident
