Principal resigns after caught killing kittens

Before everyone starts coming down so hard on this principal..

No, there is no nearby humane society. Indus IS very remote. And any vet nearby isn't going to take in strays.

The kittens were feral, the mother cat was dead and the kittens would not let any humans come close. They were going to die no matter what.

I do not advocate recklessly killing kittens (or any other animals for that matter), but there wasn't any other choice other than letting the kittens starve to death or trying to poison them. Or letting some other wild animal get to them.

 

You missed it -- it was in Perry's first line.

 

Discharging a firearm on campus probably wasn't the smartest idea this guy's ever had though.

Could they not trap them?

 

Things are done differently out on the farm in small rural outposts. It's not the first couple of kittens to be taken out by a shot gun and it surely won't be the last. Sometimes it is the most humane option.

 

I don't know the community, but perhaps if that was the only option, the principal should have waited until the kids went home and done the deed.

 

I'm always reckless when I kill kittens. Is there any other way to do it?

 

There are many in that part of the world who subscribe to a "Only good cat is a dead cat," mentality.

I'm actually surprised this ended up being a thing.

 

In a nutshell, here's the story.......

The principal was living in a mobile home on the school property as he is from Bemidji (I think that's where he's from -- either way, it's LONG way from Indus and there isn't much of anything in Indus, including rental housing.) There were traps set up under the house to catch critters -- skunks, racoons, etc. A wild cat -- the mother cat -- got caught in the trap. She died, the kittens did not. Principal shot the kittens, rather than let them suffer. The school did not notify parents until much later about what happened.

Could the kittens be re-trapped? I don't know, I wasn't there. Was shooting a gun on school property a smart thing to do? Under most situations, absolutely not. However, right now in Northern Minnesota is hunting season -- small game, bear, moose just ended yesterday. Deer season opens soon. Where I am, I will hear anywhere from 20 to 100 gunshots in a day until deer season ends. That's pretty much the norm right now.

I have a hard time believing these kids were traumatized hearing gunshots, knowing it's hunting season and knowing the northern MN culture. I also think the school should have handled the situation differently -- letting people know what happened much sooner.

But I also know most people up north will tell you that this is a tempest in a teapot.

 

Guess I misread the story. I thought he blasted away while school was in session. The way you describe it it's not a big deal.

 

I don't know if school was in session or not -- I read about this last week and I just don't remember.

I would like to make it clear, I DO NOT advocate shooting firearms on school property, especially when school is in session.

But I honestly think that the principal was damned either way, school in session or not.

 

A large beach towel rather than a Kleenex?

 

Yeah, but it's nothing like Fargo up there AT ALL...