State board moves to revoke license of vet who shot cat with arrow

From Kristen Lindsey's Facebook post. From Kristen Lindsey's Facebook post. Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close State board moves to revoke license of vet who shot cat with arrow 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners has moved to revoke the license of Dr. Kristen Lindsey, who boasted on social media about fatally shooting a cat with a bow and arrow.

On Wednesday, the board filed a formal complaint about Lindsey before the State Office of Administrative Hearings and recommended revocation of her license, a board spokeswoman said Friday.

Before filing the complaint, the board had presented a proposed agreement to Lindsey through her attorney. Lindsey declined to sign the agreement, however, prompting the board to request a hearing before an administrative law judge, spokeswoman Loris Jones said.

The hearing may not take place until February. The judge will then have 60 days to make a recommendation, meaning that the matter may not be resolved until the board's meeting in April, Jones said.

In the meantime, Lindsey's veterinary license remains active, the spokeswoman said.

According to the complaint, Lindsey shot an orange male cat through the head with a bow and arrow on April 15. She posted a photo of herself on Faceb0ok, smiling and holding up the arrow "with the cat's body dangling from the arrow shaft," the complaint states.

Lindsey included this caption with the photo: "My first bow kill (cat emoticon) lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it's (sic) head! Vet of the year award... gladly accepted (crying/laughing emoticon)."

Although Lindsey referred to the orange tomcat as feral, the board's complaint stated that the cat, named Tiger, belonged to a couple who lived near her home at the time of the incident.

By Thursday, Oct. 1, the board had received more than 700 formal complaints against Lindsey as well as written comments from all 50 states and 77 countries and more than 27,000 emails about her actions, the board stated in its filing.

The Austin County district attorney presented its investigation of Lindsey to an Austin County grand jury on June 24, but the grand jury declined to indict her.

According to the formal complaint, Lindsey committed animal cruelty by "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly" killing or causing serious bodily injury to the cat.