Texas Teacher Grins In Mugshot After STAPLING A Screaming Cat In Front Of Students

Video shows teacher Emily Marie Benner telling her students to hold the screaming cat down as she stapled shut an incision on its abdomen. The students then cheered for Benner, who is not a veterinarian and not licensed to teach veterinary surgery.

Regardless of whether she’s convicted, Emily Marie Benner’s career as an educator needs to end.

Benner is an agriculture teacher at Westwood High School in Palestine, Texas, about 110 miles southeast of Dallas. The 25-year-old was arrested and charged with animal cruelty over the weekend after giving students in her animal science class an unimaginably cruel “lesson” in crude unlicensed veterinary “surgery” on a living cat, local media reported.

On Aug. 23, Benner had her students hold the cat down while she stapled an incision on its abdomen shut. The procedure was performed without anesthesia and footage shows the cat was terrified and screaming. Benner is not a veterinarian, nor is she qualified to teach anything related to veterinary medicine.

After Benner administered the staple, her students began cheering, the video shows.

Texas teacher charged with animal cruelty
Local media showed a still image but said the video was too disturbing to air. Credit: CBS KYTX

It’s not clear where Benner obtained the cat or whether she made the incision to begin with. KYTX, a CBS affiliate in Texas, said it had “obtained a copy” of a video showing the incident, but declined to air it.

“The video is graphic in nature and we are choosing not to share it online or broadcast it on television,” KYTX’s Zak Wellerman wrote.

The cat is now under the care of a licensed veterinarian and is recovering, according to local media reports.

Brenner animal cruelty case
Benner. Credit: Anderson County Jail

Benner did not appear to be remorseful. In a mugshot taken after her arrest, she beams as she wears a t-shirt that reads “Teach Ag.”

Benner was charged with a single count of animal cruelty to a non-livestock animal, a felony under Texas penal law. She posted $7,500 bail, according to KLTV.

In a letter to parents, Westwood Superintendent Wade Stanford said Benner’s actions amounted to animal cruelty, and said he wanted “to make it absolutely clear that our district takes such matters extremely seriously.”

“This behavior is not in line with the values and standards we uphold within our district,” Stanford wrote, “and we are committed to taking immediate and decisive action to address this issue.”

It’s not clear if Benner has retained an attorney, and a preliminary hearing for her case has not yet been scheduled. She faces a maximum sentence of two years in state prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

37 thoughts on “Texas Teacher Grins In Mugshot After STAPLING A Screaming Cat In Front Of Students”

  2. I don’t know which is worse — the sadistic cruelty of the teacher, or the heartlessness of the students cheering her on. I only hope that the video was taken and turned in by a concerned eyewitness or by someone who saw the video.

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    1. Had to be one of the kids or their parents. Charismatic teachers can have a strange power over students, so the important thing now is making sure those kids understand this was not normal or acceptable.

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    1. Even farm animals are mostly sedated/anesthetized, thankfully, with some exceptions, but those are mostly due to the fact that anesthesia can cause complications in some animals so they use other drugs.

      The thing about this is there doesn’t appear to be any remorse, so I wonder if she’s going to maintain she did nothing wrong.

      I see this as directly related to the animal cognition stuff, which I try to report on regularly because the more people understand that animals think and feel, the harder it becomes to justify violence toward them. It’s difficult to believe it’s 2024 and some people still need to hear that animals feel pain and terror, but it’s true.

      I remember seeing a documentary about “topeng monyet,” aka dancing monkeys in Indonesian, the extremely messed up practice of taking baby monkeys and torturing them until they obey and perform tricks for street shows.

      One of the trainers told the documentary maker he didn’t have qualms because the monkeys didn’t feel pain, and he was “rescuing” them from the jungle where it’s dirty and dangerous.

      As long as people still believe things like that, we have a problem.

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      2. The Doors said it perfect!!! “PEOPLE ARE STRANGE”!

        But don’t hurt your critters!!! They can’t call for help!!!

        I am so bummed that people are still being AWFUL to critters! As I said before, first little critters and then SERIAL KILLER!!!

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  5. I don’t understand what is happening with people! Stealing cats from people like the news stories that you posted about before and now this! What the hell is wrong with people?

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      1. It is so amazing that there are still people like this in this world alive!!! Ten to one, that person had the thought that hurting animals is ok! NO!!! NOT OK!!! Bet she would hurt it if someone stapled HER stomach with no anesthesia. Someone should!!

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      2. The Doors said it perfect!!! “PEOPLE ARE STRANGE”!

        But don’t hurt your critters!!! They can’t call for help!!!

        I am so bummed that people are still being AWFUL to critters! As I said before, first little critters and then SERIAL KILLER!!!

        And besides that PEOPLE ARE CRUEL!

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  6. This is deeply, deeply shocking, and I feel very emotional as I write this. Hopefully the cat will ultimately be physically OK, but I find it difficult to believe that it will not be traumatised for life. Animals are people too.

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    1. “Animals are people too.” That’s exactly why this site exists. My cat has given me lessons in animal cognition that I never would have learned otherwise, and he wears his emotions on his paw. Sometimes he’s shockingly intelligent, sometimes he’s like a toddler who scraped his knee and just wants his big bud to make him feel better.

      But there is absolutely no denying there’s a mind in his little head, with its own thoughts, wants, needs, interests and feelings.

      The more we understand that, the more difficult it is to justify the mistreatment of animals.

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      1. What I find extraordinarily disturbing is that it must have been SO utterly obvious, even to a slow toddler from Planet Raxikoricophaliptorious, that this defenseless kitty was in agony, terror, & trying w/ all her might to flee. A blind person (which I happen to be) could spot this a league away.

        It seems to me that cases like this, there’s almost certainly proof of psychopathy, or sociopathic tendencies at the Very least.

        So, wtf is up w/ the cheering kids? I can agree w/ your suggestion of charismatic authority influence, witnessing just that in college. I also believe, in teens for sure, parasitic mob mentality is rampant.

        Anecdotally, I went to school w/ a majority of my class being farm kids in rural Oregon & was close friends w/ many. Not a single one would’ve cheered & more likely than not, would have tried to stop the torture; even the seemingly less empathetic boys in attendance. Those children lived close to the natural cycles of life & death, & held every living thing in highest reverence, despite its place in the hierarchy.

        So what gives? Is it a far removal from nature, so therefore Death & Pain is abstract?

        *smh* My stomach hurts. I’m gonna go hunt down one of my 4 purr-babies for a good SnootBoop😸

        Lil’ Ag Kitty will be in my prayers tonight. Miss “Teach Ag” can rot.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. You make a great point about kids who grow up in rural America, and it’s the same point a lot of people made earlier this year when Kristi Noem, then on the short list for GOP VP nominee, included an anecdote about shooting an innocent, healthy puppy in her memoir.

        Noem thought the story would burnish her credentials as a tough farm girl who is willing to do the hard things, but I was proud of how many people from the heartland stood up to say essentially: “Nope. We don’t celebrate the deaths of animals. Even when a farmer has to take life, it’s a solemn and serious thing.”

        I also chuckled at your instinct to show affection to your cat when you read stuff like this. I am exactly the same way, and Buddy’s all “While I appreciate the sentiment, human you’re being weird! I say when snuggles happen!”

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      3. Its just scary how many horrible people are out there! If they are willing to hurt a defenseless animal, they might go after people who cross them! Not what I would have liked my children to hear!

        Liked by 1 person

  7. I am completely drained emotionally by this piece of filth. I can only pray and hope her address in known and she is harrassedand her life made a living hell, forever. May she die in total agony at some point from a natural slow acting disease

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      1. Thats an understatement. But unless its a death penalty case ( wish it was) I can wish no more harm on her than a VERY slow painful natural death

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    1. There are laws against cruelty to livestock animals as well, but in some states the laws have been changed so that companion animals have their own category.

      This is because the old laws considered cats and dogs as property, just like a farm animal, so a person who kills your beloved cat or dog would be treated as if they did nothing more than break a piece of property. Those old laws didn’t take the emotional value of the animals into consideration, so people would get a slap on the wrist for killing them.

      A lot of states still have laws like that, where hurting/killing animals is categorized under agriculture and markets law.

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  10. What concerns me is the report that the students were cheering after the teacher stapled the cat.

    I hope that the superintendent will address that issue also.

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  11. Pingback: Petition: Texas Teacher Accused Of Abusing Cat Should Be Reinstated ‘No Questions Asked’ – Pain In The Bud

    2. Little Buddy and Big Buddy!!! How can we even WATCH these videos if kitties who are beyond our help??!!?? Oh, Little Buddy, I KNOW Big Buddy wouldn’t let you be there!!! He adores you! Like we do with Mr. Spunkles!

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      1. I recently showed him a video of himself and he stopped to watch like “Who is that extremely handsome cat?”

        You’re right, it is difficult to watch stuff like this while feeling helpless, unable to do anything for the poor animals. That’s why I stopped tracking and reporting the monkey abuse videos. I just couldn’t do it anymore. Originally I intended to take a break, but it was bad for my mental health. I wrote about it here to help draw attention to the issue and I should write more.

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  14. I wish MORE people were like you and were good cat servants! Spunkmeyer just left my lap.because I didn’t quite get his “scritches” right. Does Little Buddy ever leave in a huff? My caregiver says he is “petty”! So true… But he IS Spunkmeyer.

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    1. Before you give me too much credit, I just got Bud’s food ready, pretended like I was headed to place it down in his little dining nook, then turned around and sat on the couch while pretending to eat his food.

      He just stood there looking at me like “Really, dude?” lol.

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