Some jokes just write themselves.
Posted on 04/13/2007 8:33:45 AM PDT by BradtotheBone
GALVESTON — After devoting much of his life to protecting wild creatures, a prominent naturalist here now faces trial on a felony charge of cruelty to animals.
Jim Stevenson, 53, a well-known bird-watcher and founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society, was indicted this week by a Galveston County grand jury on charges that he killed a feral cat Nov. 8 with a .22-caliber rifle.
"What really bothers me, this cat was down there killing endangered species of birds and others protected by law," Stevenson said in an interview Thursday. "Feral cats are not protected by law, and I stopped a cat from doing that and I get arrested."
Assistant District Attorney Bill Reed declined to discuss Stevenson's view of the law.
"All of those issues, I'm sure, will be flushed out in court," Reed said.
Stevenson, who has lived on Galveston Island since 1996, has traveled the world studying birds and published four books, including the Wildlife of Galveston. and publishes the Galveston Ornithological Society's quarterly newspaper, Gulls N Herons.
Despite his deep involvement with nature, or perhaps because of it, he has been accused of an aversion to feral cats because they prey on the birds he has studied.
Stevenson said the cat he is accused of killing had previously been captured and would have been euthanized had it not been spayed and and released.
Stevenson believes that there is no law protecting feral cats.
An official with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has said the law is unclear.
Although he admitted in a 1999 Internet posting to killing two dozen feral cats near his island home, Stevenson told the Houston Chronicle in November that he is fond of cats.
His arrest last year surprised and saddened many environmentalists.
"Jim Stevenson is not a bad man," Dori Nelson, chair of the Seabrook Eco-Tourism Committee, told the Chronicle soon after his arrest.
The arrest came after a toll-booth worker at the San Luis Pass Bridge told police that he heard two shots fired, then saw a white van speed away with Stevenson at the wheel.
One of the toll-booth employees, who had been feeding several feral cats and considered them pets, found the dead cat and pursued Stevenson. The employee said the cat already had a limp from an earlier bullet wound.
Stevenson is free on $10,000 bail. If convicted, he faces from six months to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The world is getting ridiculous.
They should give him a medal, but this is not Breaking News.
With all that happened lately with the tainted pet food, I got to wondering:
Why don’t they put birth control in cat food?
Some jokes just write themselves.
PING!
The toll-booth employee was a contributor to the problem. People who feed feral animals are extremely irresponsible. If the guy wants a pet then he should buy/adopt an animal and properly care for it. Feral animals are nobody's pets.
That's some twisted thinking.
Those greenies are a delight...
There’s one curled up on my bed right now that might disagree with you. ;o)
Shoot, Shovel, Shutup.
Shooting an animal is not “cruelty” under the law in any jurisdiction that I know of. Even a case where he only wounded one by accident still wouldn’t qualify I wouldn’t think.
BS. Most people (like me) who feed them -—trap them and get them fixed first.
If the bird nut shot my cat, I’d cut his testicles off with a chain saw and feed them to the vultures. Then, I’d kill his whole family while he watched, then I’d kill a few of his neighbors just to make sure everybody knew how angry I was.
Or, I’d call the cops and try to get him arrested. One or the other.
Then they wouldn't have room for the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten........
Technically, he could have filed a lawsuit in Court to force the government to get rid of the feral cats that were affecting the endangered species habitat. The truly sad reason he got arrested?
One of the toll-booth employees, who had been feeding several feral cats and considered them pets, found the dead cat and pursued Stevenson.
Crazy Cat Lady Ping...
Feeds feral cats, considers them pets, then abandons job to pursue Stevenson, who is free on $10,000 bail. If convicted, he faces from six months to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
just keep your cats on your property.
I keep my dogs on my property...you do the same.
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