No where have I seen any of these teens cited or charged with animal cruelty which clearly this is. I also question Jim Roth’s (Southern Columbia Head Football Coach to four of these teens) rationale that some of them aren’t aware of the laws regarding small animals. You don’t need to know what the law is regarding bludgeoning an animal to death for fun. It’s criminal from any angle you look at it. Beating an animal in the manner in which they did is indeed animal cruelty. The role model is no more educated on animal cruelty than the teens he coached…………….Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein
Five male teens have been cited after posting a photograph to Instagram showing the animals they killed by bludgeoning them to death with baseball bats. The image shows all five teens with their “trophy kills.” Two of them are holding baseball bats. The incident occurred in Columbia County, Pennsylvania.
The five males pictured are Blake Marks, Austin Knepp, Gabe Delbo, Nick Becker, and Mark Kitchen. The first four names listed were members of Southern Columbia’s state championship football team. All five graduated earlier this month.
Wildlife Conservation Officer Jason Kelly told the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise the teens had no clear reason why they committed these acts on June 7th.
It was only after receiving complaints from the public after viewing the picture on the social media site, the commission investigated.
The animals included two beaten opossums, ten frogs, two pigeons, one snake, and one raccoon (presumably roadkill according to the teens.)
The males were cited for unlawfully killing an opussum and possessing a bullfrog out of season. Four have paid fines. The fifth teen has entered a plea.
Jim Roth, the head football coach at Southern Columbia, said, “Some kids that are good kids … made a bad decision.”
He added that “Some of these kids are not even aware of all the laws as far as small animals.”
Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and animal advocate. She hosts the show, ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.” Have a story, please email Tina at tevangelistaepp@yahoo. Like my tv page at https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows you may have missed!
What’s wrong with people???? They’re boasting about killing animals and they’re proud of how they did it. I can see their future now . Future serial abusers or worse.
Plus what’s wrong with the coach? He made idiotic comments about them. Do they have a clue what they did was cruelty? Doesn’t appear so.
And this is the caliber of your school scholars? You should be ashamed to use such a defense! My 2 year old grandson knows better! They didn’t know better? You should be ashamed and admit to it!
Agreed! ?
This is the same school. Something is wrong here. “A former student claims after two athletes sexually assaulted her and did time in a juvenile boot camp, the school did little to help her avoid harassment but went out of its way to make sure the athletes could still play ”
sports.http://wnep.com/2012/05/30/lawsuit-filed-against-southern-columbia-area-school-district/
Thank you for the information and the link to the article.
Unbelievable! How can anyone justify such cruelty. How would they feel if someone did that to one of their pets? Or have they already done it themselves? It’s the same thing – wild, domestic – doesn’t matter. Cruelty is not to be tolerated. These young men should be punished and anyone who brushes it off as “a bad decision” should be ashamed of themselves, and charged as an accomplice. They are knowingly condoning these actions by their complacency. What a sad world we’ve become. We can’t help make the world a better place if we don’t stand up and take action.
What a shady school. How the hell are they getting away with all this crazy stuff? Crooked!
What the hell is wrong with this coach excusing his former players? Saying they don’t the laws? Who needs to know a law to understand you used blunt force with a deadly object to kill animals? The ole’ boys club and letting his “jocks” get away with murder. Really disgusted with this so-called coach. Plus none are being charged with animal cruelty?! WTH???
I’d love to smash their heads in. What goes around comes around,.
These football players need to be punished properly. What’s fining going to do to their behavior? they’ll do it again. What’s really going on here? Does the coach know the police? The DA?
This is revolting. They only had to pay fines after what they did! I thought animal cruelty was a felony!!
An eye for an eye. That oughtta take care of matters.
These are future serial killers. They are sick bastards as well as the football coach for making a lame excuse for their behavior.
I’d wipe that smirk right off their faces. They weren’t taught how to treat animals nor were they punished to show what they did was wrong. Future women beaters or worse. No respect for life.
Bastards! They learned nothing except it’s okay to brutally kill animals. Pennsylvania is a backwards state regarding animal welfare. They suck.
Despicable men! Shame on them for what they did. They learned nothing by their actions. It’s no big deal to them. How do they treat women and kids?
Evil boys. Evil coach.
This is sick and demented.
This is sick.
sick morons and their coach.
Jerks!
sik f@#%!!
What are these young men being taught? It’s thinking and behavior like this that allows the cycle of animal abuse to continue and thrive in certain areas.
sick, mentally handicapped individuals.
Who taught them to be like this? Country rednecks.
Good teachers and parents to teach these kids this crap.