Texas Veterinarian Will Not Face Charges After Killing Neighbor’s Pet Cat With A Bow and Arrow and The Boasting About the Kill on Facebook

We have yet another case of someone losing their job after posting an obnoxious message on social media. Brenham, Texas, veterinarian Dr. Kristen Lindsey is out of a job after posting a Facebook photo in April of herself holding her “first bow kill” – a dead cat with an arrow through its head. However, she will not be charged with animal cruelty because the Austin County Sheriff Office said it was unable to verify when the picture was taken after Lindsey, 31, deleted the post. WARNING: the picture below is graphic and disturbing.

Lindsey posted the picture with the boastful caption: “My first bow kill, lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it’s [sic] head! Vet of the year award … Gladly accepted.”

The cat involved however was not feral but a missing pet named Tiger — reported missing by his owners.

The police cited multiple reasons for not acting. It noted that Lindsey removed the posting and related information needed to confirm time and location. It insisted “without more information, the State lacks proof that this incident even occurred in the state of Texas.” That seems a less than compelling excuse since many cases involve circumstantial evidence of the location of the crime. The second reason was more interesting: it is not clear that shooting a cat with an arrow is technically inhumane. The District Attorney noted that the American Veterinary Medical Association lists “a bolt to the head” as a humane form of euthanasia.

The lack of criminal charges has outraged many who legitimately wonder why shooting a neighbor’s pet and then displaying the body as a trophy is not animal cruelty. Moreover, the American Veterinary Medical Association, Texas Veterinary Medical Association, Lindsey’s veterinary school and her former employer, Washington Animal Clinic in Brenham, have condemned Lindsey and her actions. The clinic fired her and released a statement that “We are absolutely appalled, shocked, upset and disgusted by the conduct. We have parted ways with Ms. Lindsey. We do not allow such conduct, and we condemn it in the strongest possible manner . . . Please know that when informed of this, we responded swiftly and appropriately, and please do not impute this awful conduct to the Washington Animal Clinic or any of its personnel.”

As we discussed recently, people who achieve such infamy on social media tend to find that their reputation can follow them with devastating consequences as in the case of Adam Smith. Smith still cannot find work after posting a juvenile video of himself abusing a worker at a Chick-fil-a drive thru. It would expect that a dead-cat swinging vet would find herself in the same predicament.

Source: CBS