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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.
Thanks for the animated conversation. I am a biologist and I have seen the results of the introductions of Non-native species. It is obvious that I am unable to persuade or even make people understand the importance of species other than ourselves or our Kitties. So, I will close and wish everyone a good evening. TGIF
Plateau
Yeah, I do think name calling is juvenille. Not to mention an ad hominem fallacy.
Which is why I typically refrain from "first use".
Sorry I did not spell out "newbie" and shorted it to noob. That was not meant as an insult (everyone that has a screen name is a noob for a while), it was just an observation...
Of course, if the Mr. Kerry part was what got you hot and bothered -- you had to figure something would come back to you after typing out "intellectually challenged" and hitting the post button twice. ;-)
at some time in your life you wish to make an intelligent argument, just ask me and I will give you one
A.Be careful what you ask for.
B. Some other time, perhaps.
Enjoy your weekend...
*snerk*
How about starlings?
Tell that to the cat that got killed outside of our yard last year by a coyote.....in the city, cats belong INDOORS or on a leash. This crazy neighbor of ours had this cat declawed, and then sent it outside to fend for itself....and the coyotes took advantage....
Ditto to your post. I think it in our own self-interest to protect wildlife as much as possible. For example, I was just listening to a story on the radio about how the great reduction in shark numbers has led to an overpopulation of some sort of ray (manta, sting, something like that) which are vacuuming up the desirable scallop and oyster beds on the west coast. The sharks were the apex predators that kept ray populations in check. Now maybe one doesn’t care about sharks or rays, but lots of people certainly appreciate scallops and oysters - oysters that they’d been trying hard to reestablish.
“And you would be committing a felony in my state”
Boo effing hoo. I’m doing a public service in my area.Spay or neuter your cats and keep the pests in your own house and we don’t cross paths
You and I will disagree on that assertion. I value the skin on my hands and arms too much to attempt to leash a cat.
This crazy neighbor of ours had this cat declawed, and then sent it outside to fend for itself
The unfortunate part of that deal is the consequences of stupidity did not fall on the perpetrator of stupidity. The cat was victimized twice in that situation.
Our cats come in at night. If the coyotes want a treat, they will either have to show thmeselves while it is still light (which is not what coyotes do) or look elsewhere...
Feral cats aren't indigenous to North America. They're a threat to birds, and they crowd out foxes and owls and other indigenous predators.
Animal welfare groups are split on what to do about feral cats -- some of these colonies are several generations old, long removed from contact with humans, so the cats aren't candidates for adoption. If they go to a shelter, they'll be killed.
Some groups are practicing TNR -- trap, neuter, return -- in the hopes that the colonies will gradually die off from attrition. The Humane Society doesn't have a national position, but a lot of its chapters support TNR, and they've recruited volunteer vets to do the procedure for free. The plan is that they don't need to kill the cats, but the colonies will fade out by attrition when they stop having new kittens.
The Audabon Society, on the other hand, wants the cats caught and euthanized, because they're more concerned about the birds.
That doesn't justify plinking at cats with a .22. Note that the charge is cruelty, not killing. Trapping and gassing stray cats is legal; winging one and leading it to die slowly, not so much.
I like your first solution better!
Cats are hunters, so am I. I understand the desire to go out and kill and eat something.
But cats are irresponsible hunters. They need to be kept in during nesting season. Otherwise they’re poaching.
Ah, now see who needs to do some more reading. For your information Nutria makes some damn fine eating. I suggest you check out a Louisiana cookbook from your local library.
I disagree. Living outside cats live short violent lives. If that is OK with you let them go out, if not, keep them in. A very good friend of mine keeps getting cats, getting very attached to them and losing them. She has a doggie door and her cats go in and out at will. Some of them just never return and she never knows what happens to them. Others get sick and die from diseases they have caught from other cats. Some of them she has found dead in the street. I can’t count the number of cats she has had in the 20+ years since I have known her, only one of them lived longer than 3 years. I keep telling her it’s the doggie door, that and the fact that she doesn’t want to deal with a litter box.
It's the great circle of life, man....pass me the bong.
Yup, so was I.
Help protect feral cats.
Join the Feral Cats Benevolent society today.
We need funds to fight for our rights.
I know the difference. I have a cat who was born in the wild, lived in the wild a few years.... and is now a great pet inside only kitty......
The key is if your cats mother was a true feral cat. If she was, she would have instilled wildness into your cat as soon as it’s eyes were open.
I can’t believe there’s a law against this. Amazing. What a waste of the taxpayer’s money.
Then again, maybe.
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