Bird-Watcher Heading To Trial For Killing Feral Cat (To Protect Birds)

[matcom]

:popcorn:

<snip>

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.

More at link:


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4710901.html

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[slj0101]

1. Fuck that guy.

[hyphenate]

2. What a dick

If he's on an island, why the fuck couldn't he have caught the cat in a Hav-a-hart trap and brought them over to the mainland? Or is that way too much work for him?

Anyone who would shoot a cat like that should be given the maximum sentence, not only because he did it willfully, but as a further warning to the rest of the assholes out there who want to harm any animal.

[bertha katzenengel]

3. Shh... don't tell Bertha

:grr:

[Deep13]

4. So, pest control is a crime in Texas, I guess.

wow.

[Pithlet]

5. Please keep the copyright rule in mind. You didn't snip enough.

5. Copyrights: Do not copy-and-paste entire articles onto this discussion forum. When referencing copyrighted work, post a short excerpt (not exceeding 4 paragraphs) with a link back to the original. http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html

[Hugin]

6. So... Uh... Is that what XemaSab decided to do yesterday?

I don't remember it among the choices in the poll.