GALVESTON, Texas, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A man on trial in Texas for charges of animal cruelty claims the cat he shot and killed was feral.
Tad Nelson, attorney for defendant Jim Stevenson, said during his opening statement of the trial in Galveston Tuesday that while his client admits shooting the animal, it wasn't against the law because the animal was wild, The Galveston County Daily News reported Wednesday.
However, Prosecutor Paige Santell said the cat was being regularly fed by a San Luis Pass toll-bridge worker who considered the feline his pet.
Stevenson, president of the Galveston Ornithological Society, is being tried under one of the Texas Penal Code's 10 definitions of animal cruelty: seriously injuring an animal "belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent."
If the jury rules the animal was indeed the bridge worker's pet, Stevenson could face 180 days to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
