Peters police investigating deer carcass left at strike site
Officer Dave Stanton stops to talk with union members along East McMurray Road, across the street from Peters Township Middle School.
Officer Dave Stanton stops to talk with union members along East McMurray Road, across the street from Peters Township Middle School.
Peters Township police are investigating who left a female deer carcass on the sidewalk in front of Peters Township High School where district teachers have been picketing since they walked off the job Oct. 28, after failing to negotiate a new contract.
Police Chief Harry Fruecht said a custodian at the high school reported the incident shortly before midnight Nov. 16. The animal had been placed at the site between 10 p.m. and 11:18 p.m., he said.
According to Fruecht, there was no indication how the deer died. It was not properly tagged, which is a violation of state law.
“The animal had ‘P.T.’ spray painted on it in blue,” he said.
The incident marks the second time a dead animal has been placed where teachers have been picketing. In the early days of the strike, a dead squirrel in a plastic grocery bag was thrown at the teachers, police said.
“We do have several leads,” Fruecht said of the latest incident.
Paul Homer, a staff representative for Local 3431 of the American Federation of Teachers, said it is a shame that an animal was desecrated. “But we will not be intimidated.”
The teachers are expected to be back in the classrooms Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.