Cat Killed With Arrow Gets Absolutely No Justice

A Texas veterinarian whose Facebook page showed her holding a dead cat with an arrow in his head will not be punished.

Kristen Lindsey will not be charged with the crime because of a lack of evidence, an Austin County grand jury decided today. The veterinarian's Facebook account had been deleted before the Sheriff's Office could see it.

The nightmarish photo surfaced on April 15, and beneath the unthinkably horrible image, Lindsey reportedly wrote, "My first bow kill, lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it's head! Vet of the year award ... Gladly accepted." The cat Lindsey called "feral" is believed to be Tiger, a beloved 6-year-old cat who belonged to an elderly couple. "He went missing at the time, and when I saw the picture in my heart I knew it was him," Tiger's pet sitter Amy Hemsell told KHOU. "I'm hoping that she is punished to the fullest extent for animal cruelty."

The incident turned stomachs of animal lovers the world over. People felt a personal stake in the case, which became symbolic of the cruelty animals far too often endure.

Lindsey was fired from her veterinarian job, but formal justice still needed to be delivered. From Croatia to Austria to England and coast to coast in the U.S., cat lovers grieving the brutal death of a cat they never knew waited for the justice Tiger deserved, in the name of abused cats everywhere.

In the months leading up to the grand jury's deliberation, a Justice for Tiger social media movement flooded newsfeeds all over the world, with hashtags #IAmTiger, #JusticeForTiger and #IamTigerTuesday.

And justice never came.

Animal lovers voiced their sadness and anger on social media:

Tiger, we are heartbroken. Rest in peace.