http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-animals-dead-colonial-high-20111115,0,6578891.story
Orange County sheriff's deputies are investigating the mysterious deaths of several farm animals at Colonial High School in recent days.
According to the Sheriff's Office, two rabbits and a sheep in the school's Future Farmers of America program were found dead Tuesday morning at the school on Oleander Drive.
The discovery comes a day after four goats were found dead early Monday at the school. It remains unclear if or how the deaths are connected.
The circumstances remain unclear, and the animal deaths are currently under investigation. There was no sign of forced entry to the area where the animals were kept.
If investigators determine someone killed the animals and a suspect is found, charges could include burglary and animal cruelty.
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Orange County Public Schools spokeswoman Kathy Marsh said that officials will work to improve security measures in the area where animals are kept.
The surviving FFA animals have been removed from campus for their safety. Marsh said the animals will stay at the homes of the students who own them, "until we're sure the area is going to be safe for them."
The school's principal got on the intercom Tuesday and told students that something happened that will have a "huge impact, a negative impact" on the school's agricultural program.
"We are working our best, along with law enforcement, to get to the bottom of this,'' Principal Doug Loftus said. Officials with the agricultural/marine unit of the Sheriff's Office are investigating.
The school's chapter won second place in the FFA's State Environment Science Contest last week, according to websites for Colonial High and the state FFA association.
The competition was held Nov. 8 at the University of Florida's Education and Research Center in Live Oak, the sites say. Seminole Vocational Education Center in Pinellas County placed first.
