Is it illegal to shoot a feral cat in Louisiana?
I don’t have to look up the animal welfare laws of Louisiana to answer the question in the title because there is an ongoing criminal case in New Orleans of a man who drove around New Orleans in his car with a pellet rifle looking for cats to shoot and succeeding in shooting a feral cat who had a name: Blackie.
Note: I have read the law and it applies to the shooting of feral cats which would clearly be a crime. Two main clauses are: § 102 . Definitions; cruelty to animals — § 102.1 . Cruelty to animals; simple and aggravated. – see full text here.
Kyre West shot a feral cat in Louisiana and is on trial
It was caught on CCTV (video surveillance cameras) and Blackie died of his injuries. The alleged criminal, as yet not convicted, is Kyre West. He has been booked with a felony charge of animal cruelty. He is currently in jail until he can post a $24,000 bond.
Under Louisiana law shooting a cat, feral or domestic or anything in-between, is a crime and if that crime is aggravated cruelty to an animal it is a felony (a more serious crime). The punishment on conviction is 1-10 years in state prison or a fine of $5,000-$10,000 or both. Hard labor can also be ordered.
There will no doubt be some exceptions to the general rule that shooting a feral cat is illegal in Louisiana but they will be rare exceptions.
West shot Blackie from his car on Wednesday at 04:23.
West has no prior criminal record and is a biology and pre-med student at Xavier University (or he was).
Blackie must have been semi-feral and cared for by someone in the community as he had a name. His death has broken that person’s heart.