PETA Offers Educational Curriculum After Oklahoma Teens Video Themselves Abusing Dogs
Rebecca West
How messed up is messed up? Well, pretty darn messed up when kids turn to abusing animals for kicks. In case you haven't heard, two Oklahoma teens recently filmed themselves beating dogs...yes, the sound of brakes squealing or a record scratching is probably echoing through your head right now. They filmed themselves abusing dogs with the intention of posting them, because that's apparently what people do now.
According to KOCO 5, two Deer Creek School students filmed themselves beating dogs before authorities said the teens then made threats against a nearby middle school. KOCO 5 chose not to show the disturbing video due to its graphic nature. And it's a good thing because demented copycats would likely have considered turning it into a TikTok challenge. After all, if people will eat Tide pods...
PETA
The videos reportedly sent shockwaves around Oklahoma, and it's continuing to freak people out across the nation. When PETA found out — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — you can imagine how torqued they were.
"Two young people beating a dog on camera is obviously a red flag, making threats against a local middle school even more so," said Kenneth Montville, PETA's senior education manager. "We reached out to the local school district, the superintendent specifically, and asked them to implement PETA's humane education curriculum," he added.
PETA is said to have sent the teaching materials to Deer Creek Public Schools. The curriculum focuses on anti-bully and empathy building.
Oklahoma City Police
According to the Oklahoma City Police Department's timeline, a video concerning animal abuse and school threats surfaced on Sunday. On Monday, another video was posted and one of the suspects was found with firearms. By Tuesday, the second suspect was taken into custody and animals were said to have been found.
The City police have since stated that the two students will face felony counts of animal cruelty. PETA is hoping the curriculum will be implemented to help prevent further abuse and tragedy.
Ending Animal Abuse
"Unfortunately, there's an epidemic of violence committed by young people against animals in this country," Montville said. "It's something that we reach out to school districts in response to. It just starts by teaching the simple things like the Golden Rule, which is something we focused on in our elementary curriculum called 'Share the World.' That's a step-by-step guide on teaching kindness in the classroom. Moving up into high school, it gets more mature, and we start talking about social justice-themed curriculum."
If you become aware of animal abuse, regardless of the abuser's age or circumstances, please contact your local authorities and let them know what's going on. In most cases, animals can't fight back to defend themselves. And, even if they could, there's a good chance they'd be euthanized for it.
Another horrifying thought is the level many young animal abusers eventually graduate to in terms of escalating harm and crimes involving senseless deaths. Just say no to animal abuse and nip it in the bud right now.
