Getting justice for abused cats

Justice should be pure, untrammelled by human bias and self-interest. It should be inviolable, sacrosanct. The justice system should be something that people can go to, hang onto, as a place where a wrong can be put right.

Judges should be completely objective in their work and decision-making. They simply have to apply the law without any reference whatsoever to their own self-interest and opinions or the opinions of business leaders, politicians and journalists.

The justice system should be completely separate from the executive by which I mean the government.

It is sometimes hard enough for humans to receive justice in the courts. It is much harder for a cat. Despite there being many cat advocates fighting on behalf of abused, tortured, and killed cats, the distinct tendency is for justice not to be applied because of bias, apathy, a lack of will, and the serving of self-interest.

An example is the infamous case of Tiger, the orange tabby-and-white outdoor domestic cat who was allegedly killed with a bow and arrow by Kristen Lindsey.

I had come to the conclusion that justice would not be served as soon as I heard about the case and my conclusion has been reinforced by reading an article by Elisa Black-Taylor on Examiner.com.

Elisa has tirelessly picked over snippets of information on the Internet and on Facebook. In her article she presents a photo of three cat advocates, all women, with placards seeking justice for Tiger outside the grand jury meeting (see header image) at which Tiger’s case was not heard.

The reason why it was not heard is because the Austin County District Attorney’s office are still in the process of gathering evidence. The wheels of justice grind along slowly and distinctly at their own pace, which is too slow for most people.

In gathering evidence you would have thought that the attorney’s office would have interviewed the alleged perpetrator of this crime, Miss Lindsey. They have not. We don’t know where she is.

Surely the starting point would have been to interview her as soon as possible after the blizzard of online news media stories about this infamous matter. In indicating a complete lack of concern by the authorities, nobody has seen fit to interview anyone.

There appears to be no concern about the well-known fact that in taking pleasure in killing animals such a person can become a danger to people. Hurting and killing animals is a precursor to hurting and killing people.

“Texas investigators have no problem securing warrants, gathering evidence, and arresting suspects for deer, whooping cranes and other animals, why should Tiger be treated any less?”

The above comment was on an online news media web page on Facebook. It is a good comment and it supports what many cat advocates already realize and have realized for years, that crimes against the domestic and stray cat are treated on a less urgent basis or hardly at all by the prosecuting services.

In delaying investigating this matter, evidence will go missing. What about the bow and arrow in the infamous photograph showing Lindsey holding up the dying cat with an arrow through his head? Where is the bow and arrow? I think we know where they are. They are destroyed, burnt, and no longer exist. Time was of the essence to gather this evidence and it has been lost.

What about Tiger’s body? Where is it? Has it been checked out and an autopsy done to find out cause of death? What about the neighbor who is allegedly the owner of Tiger? Has she/he been interviewed? No she hasn’t. Nobody has as far as I’m aware.

Elisa states that there are too many obstacles in the way of justice in this case. She is correct. The major obstacle is a lack of will to see justice done by the authorities. The justice system has a sole purpose; to see justice done, objectively, equally across all victims no matter whether they are animals or people, loved or unloved, poor or rich. The system is failing.