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.
If he shot that cat inside city or some county jurisdictions, he could have easily violated firearms laws. If inside our city’s jurisdiction he would be hit with a firearms violation and an animal cruelty charge.
“Next time I see a pony, I’ll be sure to shoot it.”
Yeah, I see a lot of herd of feral ponies running around in my area. Want to try again with an analogy that actually makes sense?
Cats can't read.
“People who feed feral animals are extremely irresponsible”
I feed feral cats on a semi-regular basis and am not irresponsible. I feed them a mixture of dry cat food and Prestone though
House cats are not native to the Americas
You didn't specify feral cats. So I picked another non-native species that might also qualify for "open season".
My analogy made perfect sense. It was your wording that was the problem.
As I said in a previous post, I think catching and killing song birds is probably more a recreation for well-fed pet cats than it is a source of nutrition for truly feral cats - small rodents are more plentiful and easier to catch. Still, feral cats pose a number of other problems which might justify killing them. Catch and release spaying/neutering might be just as good in the long term - the biggest issue is irrsponisble idiots who keep releasing more cats into the wild.
I clearly said it in the context of this discussion about feral cats. The only problem is your deliberately pedantic reading of my post.
i know a guy whose b-i-l once claimed that all cats belong in chinese restaurants.
Know a guy who knows a guy? Heck, I’ve shot more cats than I can count. A few dogs too. Ferals are destructive and annoying, and they’re a constant problem in the lower Sierras.
And no pansy .22’s either. A .410 does the job cleanly.
Sure it could, just get up close and use a revolver with subsonic loads.
They started out as feral, and because of our feeding and caring for them, they are now pets!
Then you don’t know much law. Many states (e.g., Georgia) prohibit shooting a dog, for example, unless there is imminent threat of physical harm to your person or property or that of another. On the other hand, in Michigan you can get a bounty for killing a starling (3 cents) or a crow (10 cents).
I’ve got a cat, my daughter has several next door. We love them, keep them inside, and pamper them. A feral cat on the property, however, is a different matter, and they don’t last long. I get no pleasure from shooting cats, but allowed to multiply they are destructive.
My brother and SIL are having a war with their well-meaning but dunb as rocks neighbors right now over the neighbor’s cat farm.
Neighbors have about 70 feral cats that are breeding rapidly. My brother’s little girl can’t play in her sandbox, the cats have pooped and peeded so much in it. As you probably know, cats carry ringworms and other diseases.
My SIL loves her flowerbeds and veggie garden, but she can’t have one for the cats peeing and pooping, killing them. One ripped my brother’s arm up after it ran in his house and he grabbed it to put it out.
My brother has given this cat loving neighbor TWO years to do something about the cats. Neighbor has failed to act, and the cats shredded the top on my brother’s convertible. So my brother is now trapping cats and giving them to the local shelter. Another neighbor has turned over 40 cats, and my brother has caught about 20.
When the shelter folks came to get the first trapped cats the dumb neighbor raised cain, said she’d use her credit card to get them out. For some reason, she’s too stupid to use her credit card to have the cats SPAYED and neutered.
The neighbor claims she has a right to have as many cats as she wants. She apparently thinks my brother and other neighbors don’t have any rights on their own property.
I'm sure there's many such laws. Shooting an animal may also violate gun discharge laws in cities or whatnot. That's not what I was saying. This guy was charged not for killing the animal or discharging the gun... he was charged with "animal cruelty".
;-)
I feed them a mixture of dry cat food and Prestone though
And you would be committing a felony in my state.
(((Some people like your cold hearted friend should be treated the same way they treated those poor cats.)))
I sympathize, Fawn, but I was attacked by a feral cat. Believe me, we’re not talking puddy tats.
One this point we agree.
“the biggest issue is irrsponisble idiots who keep releasing more cats into the wild.”
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