BRANDON, Miss. (February 27, 2024) — In Defense of Animals, the international animal protection organization operating the Justice for Animals campaign in Montgomery County and Hope Animal Sanctuary in Carroll County, was represented in court for the appearance of Eternea Williams, aka TeeDy Williams, after a nearly two-year mission to see her prosecuted.

Williams pleaded guilty at the arraignment, got a $500 fine and a six month suspended sentence on the condition she completes a moral turpitude course at her own expense. She also has to pay court costs.

A live video posted to TeeDy Wms’ Facebook page displays her pleasure while tormenting a crated cat, who she admitted in court to keeping in the crate for two days. To her two dogs, she says, “Tonight we feast. You want the leg or you want the thigh,” as she picks up the crate and begins to encourage her dogs to torment the terrified cat.

Williams continued to kick the cat’s crate around on her porch. After inciting and teasing her dogs, she released the cat who ran for shelter under a bench, but was mauled by her dogs. At the request of a viewer, she posted a picture of the mangled cat.

Learning of this video, In Defense of Animals first had to establish the jurisdiction of the crime. Williams was associated with multiple addresses and aliases. It was established that Williams resided in Pelahatchie. In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals, Senior Campaigner Doll Stanley engaged the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in the prosecution of the case. 

District Attorney John K. Bramlett, Jr. determined that he could not prosecute Williams with felony animal cruelty because he determined the cat was not “domesticated” and had no guardian. 

Stanley responded by filing evidence of criminal wrongdoing in a police report with the Pelahatchie Police Department, but it was virtually ignored.

Rankin County Sheriff’s Investigators John Burt and Eric Mallery have since worked to address the earlier mistake by aiding Stanley with filing a criminal affidavit with the Rankin County Justice Court. 

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Blake Alan Cauthen resubmitted the case to Bramlett, but he again refused to prosecute Williams under the Dog and Cat Pet Protection Law.

Cauthen had an Animal Control Officer file an affidavit with the Justice Court under the county ordinance which carries little hope of dissuading such malevolent behavior. However, In Defense of Animals is pleased she was ordered to complete a course addressing immoral behavior. 

Sen. Angela Hill, who has supported Mississippi’s Dog and Cat Pet Protection Law for years, has since confirmed in writing that “domesticated” in the state statute delineates between domesticated animals and wildlife. 

Stanley presented the district attorney with this information and scientific material confirming that the domestic cat is a species with three categories, “inhouse, free-roaming, and feral.”

Bramlett has been provided with overwhelming evidence in support of criminal charges, including legal and scientific information, multiple submissions of criminal evidence, nearly 14,000 letters of public support for a criminal prosecution, and testimony from the sheriff’s department, prosecutors, and a senator. However, Bramlett continues to obstruct full justice instead of persuing it.

“This offender filmed their own malicious and sickening crime and posted it to social media. It is extremely worrying that enforcement should not pursue a criminal case handed to them on a plate. This ruling is a slap in the face to vulnerable members of the local community who have been left unprotected, since the link between violence to humans and violence to animals is well-documented. Thousands of animal advocates who wrote letters calling for a strong conviction are furious about this ruling. Aggravated cruelty to cats or dogs became a felony 13 years ago, and recognized as a first-offense felony for each dog or cat harmed per incident in 2022. It is disheartening to fight for justice not against criminals but for the justice system to recognize its own laws and general knowledge that house cats are a domesticated species, whether they’re in-home, free-roaming, or feral. Law enforcement does not have the right to pick and choose which laws to enforce,” said Stanley.

“A society cannot tolerate a justice system that misinterprets hard-won laws passed to protect people or animals from the fear of mortal harm,” added Stanley.

“TeeDy” has public profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, where she identifies herself as “E” and introduces her dogs Emylee and Olaf.

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In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals Campaign has saved thousands of animals, assisting through cruelty investigations, strengthening laws, educating law enforcement, and enforcing animal cruelty statutes and ordinances in the Deep South for 30 years.

Video & Images (free for use with credit per filename): https://bit.ly/TeeDyPix

Contact: Doll Stanley, doll@idausa.org, (662) 809-4483

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization based in Marin County, California, with over 250,000 supporters and a 40-year history of fighting for animals, people, and the environment through education and campaigns, as well as its hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, and rural Mississippi. www.idausa.org/justice4animals

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