Six boys arrested after cat stoned to death
Six Galveston boys stoned a cat to death this past weekend. Some of the boys used chunks of concrete that weighed as much as two pounds. Some parents are trying to protect the children by claiming the cat was mauled by a dog. So much for being held responsible for you actions, eh?
“The kids absolutely killed it,” said Galveston officer Joel Caldwell, who responded to a report of animal cruelty about 6:50 p.m. Sunday in an alley near 38th Street and Avenue M. “They stoned it to death.”
Caldwell said police were called to the scene by a woman who heard a cat shrieking in pain and then saw the boys throwing stones at it.
The woman couldn’t be reached for comment.
The stones included concrete chunks that weighed up to two pounds, Caldwell said.
Police found the cat hanging from the top of wooden fence, where a leg was wedged between slats.
A Houston veterinarian who specializes in injuries to animals conducted a necropsy Monday, said Caldwell, who himself specializes in animal cruelty cases.
Caldwell said the veterinarian found that cat did not have any puncture wounds and didn’t die from an animal attack.
The cat died from blood loss, he said.
Bloodstains still were evident Monday on the fence and the ground.
However, one of the parents who saw the cat, said: “It (the cat) looked like it had been chomped. It looked like it had been bitten.”
The six boys, all 10-11 years of age, were arrested by police. Several of the boys, who live in the neighborhood, tried to flee but were quickly arrested, police said.
All were later released to the custody of their parents. However, they were charged with felony counts of animal cruelty.
Now that the police and a veterinarian have established definitively that the cat was stoned to death, I'm all for a little frontier justice. Show the kids (and their parents) what it feels like to have someone throw stones at you. Yes, the kids may only have 10-11 years old, but that is old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. They need to understand that cruelty to animals is cruelty, period. Perhaps being administered some of their own medicine might help to drive the point home.
