Look like Will Patton, the character actor (No Way Out)
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.
Correct but, do you know all the mysteries of the natural world? What keystone species might mistakenly be eliminated that could prove to be disasterous for both the natural world and mankind? Allowing the destruction of species with unknown consequences just because you like your kitty is foolhardy at best.
Ha...My dog caught and killed a squirrel.....she’s a VERY fast lab/aussie mix.....she didn’t mean to....was just playing with it....don’t think my neighbors were too happy when we told them about it...but, they were the ones who thought the racoons were soooooo cute that would enter their cat’s “covey” they had built on their deck....and then couldn’t figure out where their kitty disappeared too....there’s rules in the animal world.....
I like bird song. It is joyous. Watching a cat slink around in the bushes is not all that much.
Your wrong and ignorant of the facts. Cats do not kill your song birds. Man does.
They are slowly filling in wetlands and building closer to the everglades every year.....where all the wild species lived first. Do you feel the same way? Or are you just being selfish.
Not only do cats kill birds.....they poop in our yards. I pick up my dog’s poop.....do cat owners pick up their cat’s poop? OUTSIDE?
You lost me on that one Fawn. Not sure what analogy you are trying to make.
I wish some cats would take care of the grey squirrel population around my place - they keep running back and forth on the fence behind the house, which drives the dog crazy.
I gotta say, its not news when a dog gets a squirrel. There’s some dogs that have decimated the squirrel populations of whole neighborhoods, killing just for the sport of it. But you have to admit, a cat catching and killing a squirrel is big.
I knew this guy was a liberal!
On a unrelated topic: Seems most Freepers can’t find the main point of an arguement if it was two feet in front of them, but they can highjack a thread with the best of them.
Our previously feral cat, Ulysses, is now a gentle lap cat. We fed him for three years outdoors and one day in January he walked into the house. Now he's the most people friendly cat we have.
He only went into the trap once...when we caught him to vet and neuter him. His memory was keen...no matter how hungry he was, he would NEVER enter that trap again.
Of course, if I had somebody take my family jewels after catching me, I wouldn't go in either. LOL!
It's twisted, all right. This guy seems to think that feral cats are obligated to follow the Endangered Species Act, and he's appointed himself the enforcer.
In the words of Mel Gibson from the movie The Patriot, “Aim Small Miss Small” A good clean kill on a feral cat is all you could ask for. They ought to give him a medal and a small reward of $2.00 or so.
“...an animal that... stinks, looks ugly, or otherwise pi$$es us off — that animal will be exterminated at any opportunity.”
That describes terrorists, liberals, and Rosie O’donuts. ;)
Look like Will Patton, the character actor (No Way Out)
Good Hunting Mr. Stevenson! If he sends me his address, I will send him a free box of shells!
I hope he misses a cat, and hits an endangered bird instead.
My grandfather lived year round in a summer recreational area (western Michigan) and there was a big problem up there with dogs that people brought on vacation being lost or left up there and then running in packs, killing everything that moved.
Needless to say, they were good target practce for the farm boys that were trying to make a living on chickens. By Halloween they would all be gone.
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