After gunning down two kittens on the property of the K-12 Indus school, just west of International Falls, Minnesota, Principal Wade Pilloud told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "I am not a cat hater." Maybe not, but he's certainly a common sense hater. Pilloud, who often lives in a mobile home on campus because his permanent house in Blackduck is over 100 miles away, had been battling vermin underneath his temporary trailer. According to the Star Tribune, "Pilloud had set conibear traps, which are designed to kill an animal by squeezing its body between steel jaws," around school grounds. In this manner, he nabbed a lot of skunks and woodchucks (no word on how many freshmen were caught) and, one day, a mother cat who died in the course of being trapped. Her kittens were nearby. Pilloud then fetched a shotgun and dispatched the infant felines. This all happened after school hours, but a few students heard the shots. When the incident came to light, Pilloud found himself in a pack of trouble, facing the possibility of felony possession of a firearm on school property. He resigned, and in a partial mea culpa, wrote that he regretted his action but still believed "that the animals should have been disposed of, to end their suffering, but perhaps by using other methods." Perhaps.
"Indus, Minn., principal resigns over kitten shooting," by Larry Oakes, Star Tribune, October 14, 2006