Matching discipline to misconduct an issue in cat-killing case
Kristen Lindsey, the Texas veterinarian who shot to social media infamy in April 2015 after posting a picture of herself holding a dead cat by the arrow she’d fired through its head, has been hit with a temporary suspension of her license.
Having initially revoked the license, the Texas veterinary board back-pedaled after Ms Lindsey appealed and won a favorable ruling from the Office of Administrative Hearings. The decision hinges on the classification of Ms Lindsey’s offense in the rules of the TBVME, either Class A or Class B, with the board ultimately choosing the latter.
The more lenient discipline has proven controversial. Stephen Wells, Executive Director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund questions its logic, asking, “if Ms. Lindsey’s callous killing of a defenseless cat, and bragging about the killing as “vet of the year,” does not rise to the level of this highest violation in an esteemed profession, then what does?”