Two weeks ago, videos surfaced of Florida teacher, Dewie Brewton III, trapping raccoons in trash cans filled with water with the intention to kill them, according to CBS News. The Fifth Judicial Circuit State Court in Florida decided not to charge Brewton because he was not unusually cruel to the animals.
The Huffington Post reported that Florida law states it is legal to kill “nuisance” animals as long as it is done in a humane way, as defined by the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians or the American Veterinary Medical Association. The American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, however, has specifically deemed drowning as “unacceptable.”
Investigators explained that Brewton believed that the two raccoons and one opossum were killing the chickens that his class was raising. CBS reported that since guns weren’t allowed on school property and beating the animals would be brutal, the teacher decided that drowning the animals was his best option.
A memo by the court obtained by CBS said that Brewton “explained that the most humane way to dispose of these nuisance animals was to drown them. He was clear that he never intended to be cruel, or vicious, nor did he intend to torment or torture the animals.”
A mother of the student who recorded the incident said that her child came home crying about what they witnessed. Many parents, according to The Huffington Post, were specifically bothered by the involvement of the students in the killings.
The court memo addressed this. According to The Washington Post, the memo said that Brewton “told students that any student that did not want to witness or be involved with this removal of these nuisance animals could stay in the classroom with a paraprofessional. Some students stayed behind in the classroom, and others went to assist in the removal of the nuisance animals.”
Brewton was placed on paid administrative leave when the school decided to launch an investigation into his actions. From there, The Washington Post reported that Brewton decided to start his retirement early, which ended the school’s investigation. An official statement by Marion County Public Schools said, “Marion County’s education standards — in fact, Florida’s education standards — do not include activities for the destruction of live animals, nuisance or not. While law enforcement determines whether this teacher’s actions were legal or not, his actions before students are entirely unacceptable and cause us great concern.”