Statement From PETA US on Texas Shooter’s Cruelty to Animals

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk released this statement to the American media in response to reports that Devin Patrick Kelley, the shooter involved in the massacre at a Texas church, had a history of cruelty to animals:

It is no surprise to PETA that—three years before he massacred 26 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas—Devin Patrick Kelley was charged with cruelty to animals for punching, throwing, and dragging a dog as the animal cried and struggled. Although the FBI has identified cruelty to animals as a warning sign of more violence to come and every school shooter and serial killer has a history of abusing animals, Kelley was given only a slap on the wrist for what was likely a “training crime.” While the issues of gun control and mental health rage on, one simple way to prevent many acts of violence is for local law-enforcement officials to pursue the strongest penalties possible in cruelty cases, for everyone’s sake.

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