The Houston Chronicle Launches Propaganda Offensive on Behalf of Serial Cat Killer Jim Stevenson

"Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."
-- Thomas Jefferson

The capitalist media's campaign to allow Galveston serial cat killer Jim Stevenson (See photo) to get away with his heinous crimes is in full swing and the despicable, unprincipled Houston Chronicle is the leading the way.

Par exemple, on April 13th hack writer Harvey Rice devoted sixteen paragraphs to defending Stevenson and he even went so far as to print a photograph taken by Stevenson that purports to show a cat stalking a heron near the San Luis Pass Bridge. (See "Cat-Killing Bird-Watcher Heading to Trial.")

Rice allows Stevenson all the space in the world to recite his old excuses and lies and, more importantly, to defame cats. In particular, he asserts that he has a God-given right to shoot cats and that those who somehow manage to elude the cross hairs of his trusty .22 rifle should be trapped and exterminated by Animal Control.

"Feral cats are not protected by law, and I stopped a cat from doing that (allegedly killing a bird) and I get arrested," he groused to his buddy Rice.

The allegation that the cats are even feral is disputed by Galveston resident Maggie Petsch who in an April 21st letter to The Galveston County Daily News wrote that they are provided with beds, food, and veterinary care. (See " 'Feral' Cats Are a Picture of a Rare, Peaceful Life.") They are also cared for by the toll collectors who regard them as family.

Like all psychopathic bird lovers, Stevenson tosses out the obligatory declaration that in his heart of hearts he actually likes cats. Yeah! Sure! He likes cats in much the same fashion that Hitler liked Jews.

Rice also gives space to Stevenson's defenders so that they can repeat the same arguments in his defense that they uttered after his arrest last November. Nowhere in Rice's one-sided, anti-cat screed are defenders of cats permitted to get in so much as a word edgewise.

Although journalists never have been known for their ethics, The Chronicle's steadfast defense of a monster like Stevenson represents a new all-time low in yellow journalism. It is on a par with NBC's granting of a forum to Seung Hui Cho to posthumously defend his massacre at Virginia Tech. Sans doute, Rice and The Chronicle would champion the causes of the Pol Pots and Boston Stranglers of this world if they thought that they could get away with doing so.

The brand of scurrilous journalism practiced by The Chronicle brings to mind what Thomas Jefferson said about the press in a January 12, 1819 letter to Nathaniel Macon: "Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." It is doubtful, however, that he would even find the ads credible if he were alive today.

The Chronicle's endorsement of Stevenson's murderous rampage was occasioned by his indictment on April 11th by a Galveston County grand jury for the merciless gunning down of a pregnant cat on November 8th. The Chronicle is so slipshod in its reporting that is difficult to say exactly what Stevenson was indicted for but presumably it was for only one count of felony cruelty to an animal.

Even if convicted, the severest sentence that he would be eligible for under Texas's extremely lax animal protection laws would be a $10,000 fine and between six and twenty-four months in the can. (See Cat Defender post of October 27, 2006 entitled "Tiny Kitten Named Zoe Has Her Ears Cut Off by Fiends but Texas Police Do Not Seem to Care.") The Chronicle does not disclose the trial date and in the meantime Stevenson remains free on a $10,000 bond.

The fact that the fifty-three-year-old former high school teacher from Tallahassee was only indicted on one charge of animal cruelty is a travesty in itself. Since the cat was pregnant, he at least should have been charged with two counts of murder.

Furthermore, the cat was already lame as the result on a bullet wound inflicted by Stevenson a few days earlier. Secondly, while fleeing the murder scene, he rammed the truck of toll collector John Newland who not only witnessed the shooting but apprehended him as well. Surely, deliberately ramming another vehicle is a crime.

Stevenson also shot and killed four other cats during the first week of November and at least ten during during 2006. By far and away the most incriminating piece of evidence against him, however, is a 1999 web posting wherein he bragged that he had been gunning down on the average of about two-dozen cats a year over the past decade.

By his own admission, he must have shot and killed at least two-hundred-forty cats during that time period. It also can be safely assumed that he has poisoned and trapped for Animal Control to exterminate countless others. Cat-hating monsters like him avail themselves of all lethal means at their disposal. (See Cat Defender post of November 23, 2006 entitled "Evil Galveston Bird Lover Is Finally Arrested After Having Gunned Down Hundreds of Cats.")

Rice fails to mention what Stevenson has been up to since his arrest but the fact that the paper published one of his photographs makes it clear that he is still harassing the cats that live near the San Luis Pass Bridge. The fact that no more dead bodies have turned up does not mean that he has put away his rifle; he simply may be too clever for the authorities to catch him.

Like all sadistic killers, Stevenson will never reform. If he is not actually killing cats at the present time, it is a sure bet that he will resume doing so as soon as he beats the rap.

The fact that he not only has been able to get away with his crimes for so long but also that The Chronicle is championing his killing spree breeds only contempt for both the law and the working press.

Photo: Galveston Police Department.