NEWS AND COMMENT-Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter, Weatherford, Texas, USA: This is a very disturbing story. It reminds me of the Lucy Letby story in the UK; the nurse who is serving a whole life sentence for killing babies in a hospital. In this instance, the above-mentioned shelter hired Gabriel Caswell as an animal care technician in February 2023.
The news media tells us that during his employment more than 80 kittens who had arrived at the shelter in reasonable condition died and 51 kittens died in June alone.
At one time they were unsure as to why so many kittens were dying. Clearly far more than normal. They suspected the deaths were caused by the usual diseases affecting rescue kittens or perhaps by something in the environment at the shelter. They carried out autopsies on the kittens but these didn’t provide any answers. They installed a new HVAC system and changed their cleaning protocols. They did everything they could to prevent these deaths.
And then, remarkably, another employee at the shelter witnessed Gabriel Caswell brutally mistreating a kitten. His behaviour was captured on video. He was seen to be seriously harming a black kitten to such an extent that he severed the kitten’s spine. More video footage showed him beating another kitten multiple times. He threw the kitten’s lifeless body into the trash.
The police were called and of course they have the best kind of evidence; video footage. It is now believed that he killed many kittens at the shelter. More video footage is being reviewed.
Gabriel Caswell allegedly committed a felony crime and he is currently out on a bond (bail in the UK). He was arrested and has been charged with felony animal cruelty on July 14 and July 29.
That’s all I know. It is a terrible, terrible example of animal cruelty. The shelter hired the wrong guy. No doubt, within the criminal proceedings which will follow his arrest the judge will order a mental health report because it seems to me that this man is mentally ill. He might not be but to do what he did would indicate it.
The “In Defence of Animals” website asks people to sign a petition to District Attorney Jeff Swain at the Park County District Attorney’s Office, Weatherford, Texas, USA. I don’t have a link to the petition but the Alley Cat Allies website publishes their letter petitioning the district attorney to prosecute Gabriel Caswell to the fullest extent of the law. You can see by clicking on this link. You might wish to write to him yourself.
I think we can say what I have said in this instance because of the conclusive video evidence. What I’m saying here will not change or in any way interfere with the proceedings. This is a cut and dried case.
