Idaho jurors decided Friday that a junior high school teacher who fed a sick and dying puppy to a snapping turtle in his classroom was not guilty of animal cruelty, FOX 13 reports.

Preston Junior High teacher Robert Crosland was being tried for a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty after locals told police what happened to the puppy in March.

FOX 13 reported that a witness testified the puppy “wasn’t doing the best” before Crosland fed it to the reptile. Crosland’s son Mario told jurors, "If you can lose a life to help another, then why not?”

Idaho state officials with the Department of Fish and Game ultimately seized the turtle — considered an invasive species — a few days after it ate the puppy. Staff with the state Department of Agriculture later euthanized it.

See more at FOX 13.

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