Texas veterinarian Dr. Kristen Lindsey was fired from her job and may now face criminal charges after sharing an appalling photo on Facebook. The gruesome image (which may be seen in full below) shows her posing with a dead cat with an arrow through its head.
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“My first bow kill,” Lindsey wrote as a caption. “The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it’s head! Vet of the year award…gladly accepted.”
The post quickly drew outrage, with many calling it a repulsive act of animal cruelty. Upon seeing the viral image, Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes launched an official investigation into the matter to see if criminal charges could be brought against her.
The image of Dr. Kristen Lindsey holding the dead orange and white cat is just “disgusting,” Austin County Sheriff Jack Brandes told the Daily News.
“This is not acceptable in our society. I don’t like it and I hope we don’t have to deal with this again,” Brandes added.
Lindsey’s employers, the Washington Animal Clinic in Brenham, Texas, canned her shortly after the picture made its rounds on social media. A message on their website denounces Lindsey’s actions:
“We are absolutely appalled, shocked, upset, and disgusted by the conduct. We have parted ways with Ms. Lindsey. We do not allow such conduct and we condemn it in the strongest possible manner. Please know that when informed of this we responded swiftly and appropriately and please do not impute this awful conduct to the Washington Animal Clinic or any of its personnel.”
Although Lindsey describes the cat as “feral”, reports note that it was actually someone’s pet. A Facebook page called “Justice for Tiger” claims the feline is Tiger the missing tabby, but that has not yet been confirmed by officials.