ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – A vegan English teacher thinks students shouldn’t be able to dissect cat carcasses.

And now she’s suing her former school district after she says she was punished when she tried them to stop the practice.

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The Los Angeles Times reports Karen Coyne has filed a lawsuit against the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, claiming “the district and several employees created a hostile work environment, violated her free speech rights and transferred her without her consent.”

Coyne, a “vegan and animal rights activist,” said students had complained to her for years about the dissection of cats, and she tried to stop it.

The teacher claims forcing students to dissect cats violates the state education code because the school did not offer “alternative assignments” when students would ask for them.

“Then-Principal Michael Vossen sent an email to the school staff that mentioned cat dissections being “a necessary skill in preparing our future surgeons,” the lawsuit states, according to the paper.

Coyne, who advised the Compassion in Action club, is accused of rallying her students against the dissection lessons.

The club is an “animal advocacy organization,” according to the Times.

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It mounted a campaign to inform teachers and administrators about alternatives to cat dissection.

“Basically this is a woman who has a passion for animals,” Coyne’s lawyer, Cheryl Konell Ruggiero tells the Orange County Register.

“It’s been very stressful for her.”

According to court documents, “photos of students posing with dead cats” appeared on social media.

“One student put the head of a decapitated cat in another student’s locker,” the Register reports.

“Many people think they’re self-righteous,” Ruggiero said of the animal “rights” activists.

“They just have a very strong belief in not consuming or abusing animals.”

The teacher claims the school changed her schedule, making her unavailable to continue advising the Compassion in Action club.

Coyne is seeking a year of salary and benefits, which amount to about $84,000, plus unspecified damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering, according to the Times.

She believes she needs to take a year-long sabbatical to recover emotionally.