Texas Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Kicking Cat on Video

In a case of animal cruelty, a Beaumont, Texas, man was sentenced on Tuesday to more than three years in federal prison for kicking a cat in an act that was captured on video and shared on social media.
Donaldvan Williams, 30, received a 40-month sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty to animal crushing and aiding and abetting, according to court documents in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The incident, which dates back to October 2021, involved Williams and an accomplice, Decorius Mire, who filmed the act on his cellphone. Prosecutors say the pair found the cat in a parking lot when Williams kicked the cat with such force that it flew 15 to 20 feet. The footage caused widespread outrage after it was later shared on social media.
In addition, according to the indictment, an unidentified third person also set the cat on fire shortly after the kick.
Federal prosecutors opted to charge Williams under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, a federal law that carries harsher penalties than Texas state animal cruelty laws as it prohibits harm to animals and bans videos of animal cruelty.
U.S. Attorney Damien Diggs’ Office spokesperson Davilyn Walston highlighted the decision, stating that the egregious nature of the crime warranted federal prosecution.
“A lot of times, when you have offenders that are particularly egregious … the state penalties aren’t as harsh,” Walston said
Newsweek reached out to Diggs’ office via email on Wednesday for comment.
Williams could have faced as little as two years in prison had he been prosecuted under Texas law for animal cruelty.
Meanwhile, his accomplice, Mire, also struck a plea deal and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in July 2023.
The details of the case have prompted discussions about the adequacy of animal cruelty penalties in Texas, where advocates are pushing for stronger state-level legislation to address such heinous acts.
This comes after House Bill 653 and Senate Bill 1724, commonly known as “Loco’s Law,” went into effect September 1, 2001, making animal cruelty a felony and punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to two years in jail. According to Texas SPCA, the law was named for a puppy called Loco, whose eyes were intentionally gouged out. Prior to Loco’s Law, animal cruelty was not considered a felony under Texas law. Today, animal cruelty convictions are classified as either a felony or misdemeanor.
Compared to other states, Texas’ animal cruelty statutes are very narrow in scope because they exclude certain types of animals—including circus animals, wild animals and animals used in experiments—from protection from animal cruelty laws.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.