Trial for Galveston Cat Killing

Based on articles in The Wall Street Journal (“Bird Lover on Trial for Feline Felony,” Barry Newman, September 4, 2007) and The Los Angeles Times (“Alleged Cat Slayer Says He’s Martyr for Birds,” Miguel Bustillo, November 25, 2006)

On April 18, 2007, a Texas grand jury indicted James Munn Stevenson of felony cruelty for "intentionally" or knowingly shooting and killing a cat with a rifle.

Mr. Stevenson, founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society, states he did shoot the cat, but claims he did so to protect birds. On November 8, 2006, Mr. Stevenson allegedly picked up his .22-caliber rifle, got in his van, and went to the San Luis Pass Bridge in search of a lame cat he had previously seen approaching a colony of piping plovers. Upon sighting the cat, he shot her with the rifle and drove away. “It’s a choice of who dies, the cat or the bird,” Stevenson told The Wall Street Journal. “By acting or not acting, I had to choose who dies.” The Los Angeles Times reported that on an Internet bulletin board in 1999, Mr. Stevenson “described killing many feral cats during his first year living on Galveston Island.” 

Judge Lonnie Cox 56th Judicial District Court of Texas

John Newland, a tollbooth operator on the San Luis Pass Bridge, heard shots fired under the bridge and saw Stevenson’s van and the body of the victim. Newland pursued Mr. Stevenson to Jamaica Beach, where the latter was apprehended by the police. Mr. Newland says he had been feeding the cat in question—whom he had named Momma Cat—where she lived under the San Luis Pass Bridge. Mr. Newland states that he buried Momma Cat under the bridge, near his tollbooth.

Mr. Stevenson's trial is slated to begin November 12, 2007. If convicted, Mr. Stevenson may face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.