Kristen Lindsey Latest: Controversial Vet Could Be Charged With Misdemeanor By D.A.
Will Dr. Kristen Lindsey be charged with animal cruelty? It may be a few days before outraged members of the public have a definite answer. The Austin County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation into the Lindsey case on Tuesday morning, after which, the results were sent to the District Attorney’s Office.
“At 7:59 this morning, the Austin County Sheriff has completed the investigation of the Animal Cruelty case first reported to us last Friday. The completed [Dr. Kristen Lindsey] case file has been turned over to the Austin County District Attorney for filing of charges under Texas Penal Code 42.092.”
What this means is that there appears to be enough evidence that animal cruelty has taken place and that charges can be filed against Kristen. However, it is up to the D.A. to decide if there’s enough evidence to go forward. According to KBTX, D.A. Travis Koehn was “in court all morning” and was therefore unable to look over the Lindsey case right away. Koehn reportedly started viewing the results of the investigation Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Kristen Lindsey of Brenham, Texas came under fire when what appeared to be a photo of the veterinarian with a dead cat was uploaded to her Facebook page. In the image, the vet is holding a cat with an arrow through its head. The caption that accompanied Lindsey’s image said that it was her “first bow kill” and “the only good feral tomcat was a dead one”.
The image and story went viral over the weekend as animal lovers around the world responded in horror. To make matters worse the “feral” cat in the image is now widely believed to be a missing house cat named Tiger, beloved pet of an elderly couple that lived not too far away. The animal remains unaccounted for, with many onlookers convinced that it is indeed the same cat.
Lindsey has already suffered repercussions related to the scandal, as she was fired from the Washington Animal Clinic. The veterinarian’s former place of employment reportedly received hundreds of calls before deciding to let her go.
Additional sanctions may be coming, as KBTX claims that the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners is rumored to be performing an investigation. When contacted by email, a spokeswoman for the board reached out to the Inquisitr by phone to make a statement.
“All I can tell you is that we were made aware of the situation, and we take something like this seriously. I really cannot confirm or deny whether or not we’ve had complaints filed against Dr. Lindsey…since those would be part of an investigation file which is considered confidential.”
The spokeswoman would only say that the board was following procedures relevant to a situation of this nature. What those procedures are was not made clear.
So it is possible that Dr. Lindsey could be the subject of a separate investigation that results in additional penalties. Whether or not this is the case will not be known until the board goes public and officially announces one way or the other if an investigation has taken place.
For now, all eyes are on D.A. Koehn.
A US vet who used a bow and arrow to kill a cat is fired and investigated by police http://t.co/uznQyHnwqW pic.twitter.com/oSo8iKw1sP
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) April 19, 2015
Do you believe Dr. Kristen Lindsey will face animal cruelty charges? If so, would the potential punishment fit the crime? Please share your thoughts below.
[Image Credit: Kristen Lindsey/The Telegraph]
