In South Korea, police arrested a 44-year-old preschool teacher, after he allegedly devoured a living hamster in front of his kindergarten class.
On May 11, seven toddlers witnessed their teacher, known as Mr. Yu, eating the rodent that one of his students brought in for an assignment on how to properly take care of animals. This extreme action was said to be caused by the children picking on and teasing the hamster, which lead to the animal's death.
When asked why he did such act, he claimed that his intention was to teach the kids a lesson on how life is precious and should not be taken lightly.
"While watching the hamsters die from teasing, I thought I should teach the children it was wrong to make light of life," Yu said in The Korea Times report.
Speaking to a local news outlet, the teacher could not let the students continue on with hurting the animal. Despite being afraid of rats because he was bitten when he was younger, Yu was able to grab the hamster, put it in his mouth and swallow it alive. This act was supposedly triggered by a panic attack as well.
Aside from this extremely disturbing behavior, Metro News reports the teacher was also abusing his students verbally. The children are said to be extremely traumatized by the event.
Yu has since resigned from the boarding school in Jeonguep, North Jeolla Province and has received numerous complaints from his co-teachers and colleagues. The children's parents also filed charges of child abuse against the teacher.
Yu has issued an apology to the children and their parents, saying that he would have not done such act if he knew beforehand that it would be considered child abuse.
Although charges were filed, he was spared by authorities from detention.
