A primary school teacher in the UK has been axed after being caught on now-viral video kicking and slapping a horse.
Sarah Moulds, 37, a mother of two who taught at Somerby Primary School in Melton Mowbray, sparked widespread condemnation when she was caught beating the horse after a hunt on Nov. 6, the Mirror reported.
The anti-hunt group Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs said it recorded the incident while its members observed the Cottesmore Hunt in Rutland, East Midlands, according to the Guardian.
Moulds is seen pummeling the animal as she dragged it back to a trailer.
The Mowbray Education Trust, which represents seven schools in the area, suspended Moulds in November — but its chief operating officer, Paul Maddox, has confirmed that she has since been terminated.
“As a Trust we are committed to ensuring the best standard of education for all of our young people and we look forward to continuing this throughout the 2021/22 academic year and beyond,” he said in a statement.
Moulds also was booted from a volunteer leadership position at the Pony Club, which organizes horse rides for kids, the Guardian reported.
“The welfare of horses and ponies is of the utmost importance to the Pony Club, therefore the lady in question has been removed from her voluntary position as a team organiser for a branch,” the club said.
The Hunting Office said it “expects the highest level of animal welfare at all times — both on and off the hunting field — and condemns the actions taken by this individual, who is not a member of the hunting associations,” according to the news outlet.
Meanwhile, Leicestershire police said it would assist the RSPCA in the investigation.
Moulds’ uncle, David Kirkham, defended the disgraced educator, whom he described as a “fantastic person who absolutely loves her horses,” the Guardian reported.
“I’ve seen the video but we don’t know what the horse had been doing and if it was out of control. But we know it ran out onto the road and she told it off. There was no malice intended,” he said.