I’m told by Elisa Black-Taylor that the news circulating on the grapevine is that Kristen will not be required to attend the Veterinary Board conference due to take place on 28th August because there is no evidence that she has done anything wrong. In addition, if the “Veterinary Board” (Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners) does sanction her by, for example, suspending her license then she plans to sue them. The same goes for the AVMA. [Note: by ‘not be required’ I mean she believes that she has done no wrong and therefore has no reason to attend. Attending is not mandatory.]
The first question then is whether she has, or has not, done anything wrong when she killed Tiger with a bow and arrow. She has done wrong but the problem is EVIDENCE.
It’s a boring subject but you have to refer to Texas law for the answer (§ 42.092). And the answer is clear: a person cannot kill a feral cat or any cat for that matter, and it makes no difference how you kill the cat, unless one of the exceptions is applicable. You can kill a feral cat under certain circumstances and get away with it in Texas.
One exception is that if the “actor” had a reasonable fear of being injured by a dangerous wild animal. This is inapplicable in this instance as it is about dangerous dogs. The only other possibility in defence is that she killed the cat because he was on her property in the act of or after injuring or killing “the person’s livestock animals or damaging the person’s crops”. That’s the only other defence and it makes you laugh to read it because it is totally inapplicable.
The problem that the Veterinary Board has in this case and the same applies to the AVMA is that the Grand Jury decided that she had not committed a crime and therefore should not go to trial. Therefore there is no formal, verified evidence she has done anything wrong from a criminal standpoint. This was an incorrect decision. In fact it is obviously incorrect but no doubt her lawyer will use that in her defence and it may well be effective.
But she has committed a crime. In fact I have discussed this earlier in a previous post because she could be prosecuted under a different and lesser offence.
In addition the Tiger’s Justice Team have written the most comprehensive complaint to the Veterinary Board setting out in the clearest terms what she has done wrong and why she should be sanctioned.
Therefore if she states through her attorney that she has not done anything wrong, she is incorrect and the Board should be aware of that. There is no doubt in my mind that she really must attend because she has a case to answer. It isn’t just about the criminal evidence it’s about the complaint. The complaint is a bigger matter and covers more issues than just the criminal aspects of this case.
It would seem to me that the argument in discussion at the conference will hinge on the complaints as set out by Tiger’s Justice Team and the criminal matter will be put to one side because of the Grand Jury’s decision. It’s a great shame that the Grand Jury was manipulated by the district attorney into coming up with the wrong decision. You could argue that the attorney behaved in a criminal manner in engineering that outcome.
Please comment on Facebook as well as it helps spread the word – thanks.
I understand, too, that she was not required to attend by law. She had a choice. I presume her attorney was there, however, to represent her.
I PM’d a member of Tiger’s Administrators page and was told Amy and someone named Gisele were in the room for the hearing and Kristen wasn’t present. So everyone can quit sending me the nasty messages because it appears Kristen wasn’t required by law to attend, although it was probably a bad move for her missing it.
I agree. Sometimes, rumors can prompt a more in-depth look at a situation.
Rumours and hearsay have some value. They can lead the way before hard facts turn up.
I’ve ran into a lot of rumors and heresay lately that were denied as being the truth and later turned out to be a coverup. I’m having to investigate one right now that the Greenville shelter is killing the FIV+ cats because the vet at the shelter considers it a risk to send them out among non FIV+ cats. Hopefully I’ll know more by the weekend when I do my “crisis” article. A cat was killed last week when a rescue was in the building ready and willing to take it and it was kill for being FIV+
Thank God! It was on an administrative group for Tiger. The person who posted it said they had checked with the ALDF. I’m glad to hear it’s false.