gunsmith
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I thawt I saw a puddy cat
http://www.khou.com/news/local/galveston/stories/khou070412_jj_catdeath.7f24f4.html
Grand jury indicts bird lover in cat's death
09:08 AM CDT on Thursday, April 12, 2007
By Scott E. Williams / The Daily News
GALVESTON — A grand jury Wednesday indicted the founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society on a felony charge of cruelty to animals.
Prosecutors accused Jim Stevenson, 53, of loving birds a little too much. He faces a charge of cruelty to animals in the November shooting of a cat. More than once, Stevenson has stated that feral cats on the isle’s West End are a danger to bird populations.
In November, police arrested Stevenson after a report of shots fired near the San Luis Pass toll bridge.
When patrol officers reached the West End, they stopped a van with a Galveston Ornithological Society logo on its side.
One of the toll-bridge workers was following the van and later told police the van’s occupant had shot a cat for which the bridge worker had been caring.
Police later found a .22-caliber rifle in the white van.
Stevenson discussed the hours before his arrest after his release in November. His account appeared on the Texbirds online message board.
He wrote that, the night before his arrest, he saw a feral cat on the West End “creeping up on three snowy and two piping plovers, and several sanderlings.”
Stevenson wrote that he tried unsuccessfully to capture the cat. However, the next morning, he saw it and several other cats in the area, making him concerned for endangered and threatened birds whose habitat lies near the isle’s western tip.
State law offers a variety of definitions of cruelty to animals. One is killing an animal without its owner’s consent.
While Stevenson has never publicly admitted shooting the cat, he told The Daily News last year the charge was not valid because the cat was feral and had no owner.
However, the bridge worker, who testified before grand jurors Wednesday, had told police he and his peers regularly laid out food for the cats and had come to think of them as pets.
The bridge worker had also told investigators nearly a dozen cats had been killed in the area in the months prior to Stevenson’s arrest.
The charge carries a possible jail term of 180 days to two years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/galveston/stories/khou070412_jj_catdeath.7f24f4.html
Grand jury indicts bird lover in cat's death
09:08 AM CDT on Thursday, April 12, 2007
By Scott E. Williams / The Daily News
GALVESTON — A grand jury Wednesday indicted the founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society on a felony charge of cruelty to animals.
Prosecutors accused Jim Stevenson, 53, of loving birds a little too much. He faces a charge of cruelty to animals in the November shooting of a cat. More than once, Stevenson has stated that feral cats on the isle’s West End are a danger to bird populations.
In November, police arrested Stevenson after a report of shots fired near the San Luis Pass toll bridge.
When patrol officers reached the West End, they stopped a van with a Galveston Ornithological Society logo on its side.
One of the toll-bridge workers was following the van and later told police the van’s occupant had shot a cat for which the bridge worker had been caring.
Police later found a .22-caliber rifle in the white van.
Stevenson discussed the hours before his arrest after his release in November. His account appeared on the Texbirds online message board.
He wrote that, the night before his arrest, he saw a feral cat on the West End “creeping up on three snowy and two piping plovers, and several sanderlings.”
Stevenson wrote that he tried unsuccessfully to capture the cat. However, the next morning, he saw it and several other cats in the area, making him concerned for endangered and threatened birds whose habitat lies near the isle’s western tip.
State law offers a variety of definitions of cruelty to animals. One is killing an animal without its owner’s consent.
While Stevenson has never publicly admitted shooting the cat, he told The Daily News last year the charge was not valid because the cat was feral and had no owner.
However, the bridge worker, who testified before grand jurors Wednesday, had told police he and his peers regularly laid out food for the cats and had come to think of them as pets.
The bridge worker had also told investigators nearly a dozen cats had been killed in the area in the months prior to Stevenson’s arrest.
The charge carries a possible jail term of 180 days to two years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
