PETA is now getting involved in the incident that occurred in Christiana involving a 16-year old who allegedly killed a family dog. The non-profit organization has sent a letters to schools all over the Rutherford County District. One of those letters went to Christiana Middle School Principal Bob Horne. Both Christiana Middle and Elementary are of course in the area of where the animal abuse case unfolded.  

We spoke to PETA representative Whitney Calk who told us…

Calk said PETA has offered to send free “TeachKind” posters to schools in our area to encourage students to report cruelty to animals whenever they discover it.

Calk says that so far, Christiana Middle has not responded to their request. The letter was emailed on Wednesday.

Copy of the letter to schools like Christiana Middle BELOW:

Dear Principal Bob Horne:

My name is Nina, and I'm writing from TeachKind, PETA's humane-education division. We work with hundreds of teachers nationwide to bring compassion to the classroom, so we were disturbed by recent news of a 16-year-old Christiana boy who allegedly tortured and killed his family's dog before hiding the body inside a storage barn. Thankfully, local officials are taking this case seriously, and the suspect has reportedly been charged with a felony. As you may know, medical experts and top law-enforcement officials agree: The link between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence is undeniable. In fact, the FBI uses reports of animal abuse while gauging the threat potential of suspected and known criminals, and the American Psychiatric Association identifies it as one of the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders. Many serial murderers, including many school shooters, "began" by abusing animals, and animal abuse often coincides with domestic violence.

The prevention of violence can start in the classroom if students are taught to have empathy for all beings. Might you consider incorporating humane education into your curriculum? That way, you'd have a chance to reach kids before they ever lash out violently. TeachKind is here to help! I would love to send your school a free anti-violence poster from our youth division, peta2. The poster encourages students to report cruelty to animals whenever they discover it, for everyone's sake—and displaying it in a prominent location could help save a life. Our staff is always available to send free materials, suggest free lesson plans from TeachKind.org, and even visit your school to host free classroom presentations. We're here to assist you in any way that we can in order to ensure that your efforts to teach kindness are successful.

On behalf of our more than 3 million members and supporters globally, thousands of whom proudly reside in Tennessee, we thank you for your consideration. I hope to hear from you soon.

Warm regards,

Nina Kahn

TeachKind Coordinator, PETA

See original story that sparked this issue HERE.