No Charges for Vet Accused of Killing Cat With Arrow

There's not sufficient evidence Dr. Kristen Lindsey committed a crime
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2015 5:04 PM CDT
No Charges for Vet Accused of Killing Cat With Arrow
KBTX screenshot.   (KBTX)

A Texas veterinarian may have angered a lot of people, but she won't be charged for allegedly killing a cat with an arrow through the head in April. The investigation into Dr. Kristen Lindsey could find no substantial evidence Lindsey committed a crime. Though she posted a photo of herself with the dead cat on Facebook, which she later deleted, the sheriff's office couldn't verify the photo—and an Austin County grand jury today "no billed" her, the county district attorney's office says, according to the Houston Chronicle. A "no-bill" finding means there's not enough proof to file charges, KHOU notes. A crowd gathered outside the courthouse today to protest the finding.

"Without more information, the State lacks proof that this incident even occurred in the state of Texas," the DA says in a press release, adding that investigators also couldn't prove the cat's manner of death was cruel. (The American Veterinary Medical Association itself says a "bolt to the head," performed correctly, is a humane way to euthanize, and, as KBTX notes, the press release also points out that in some parts of the US, hunting stray cats is perfectly legal.) The sheriff's office says it was told that Lindsey was trying to protect her own pets from a "potentially rabid stray cat," but the cat she's accused of killing was reportedly a house pet named Tiger who went missing. Lindsey was fired from her job at an animal clinic after the photo went viral. As for her veterinary license, the DA notes it is "not involved" in the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners' decision on that. (More veterinarian stories.)

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