Officials are investigating after a video surfaced of teens throwing a cat into Belton Lake.
The Bell County Sheriff's Department said that they were contacted on July 10 about the incident. BCSD said that Belton police identified three teenage boys involved.
A Belton High School student, who did not want to be identified, said she goes to school with the boys and was outraged by the video.
"I didn't expect that they would do something like that," the student said. "I'm an animal lover, I love animals and it hurt to watch a cat being thrown into a lake. I just want action to be done to the people involved. The person who threw it and the people who were there who didn't stop it."
The video was originally on Snapchat and later posted to Twitter. It now has more than 10,000 views.
"We all know how cats can't stand the water. I just kind of find it appalling that this happened," said Sheriff Eddy Lange with the Bell County Sheriff's Department. "I'm kind of expecting, or hope, from a statement from the young man involved as to what exactly he was thinking when he did that."
Sheriff Lange said these boys broke the law by intentionally harming an animal, which is a state jail felony, but that will be handled differently since they're minors.
He said it will also be up to a judge or jury to determine what happens to these boys.
PETA has also stepped in after seeing the video. An official with the organization said they are following the case and will lobby for charges if it comes to that.
"I was kind of ashamed myself that this happened in our neighborhood but we'll certainly do everything we can to teach these young men that this isn't appropriate," Sheriff Lange said.
Sheriff Lange said to his knowledge, the cat is okay. Since all the teens involved are juveniles, their names will not be released.
The investigation is expected to wrap up within the next week. Sheriff Lange said they will then hand over what they find to the county attorney.
everyone please repost this and tag @peta. this is not okay and i NEED for people to know that it isn’t. thank you. pic.twitter.com/o3xUgAGjdM
— jen ? (@jenaleephang) July 10, 2018
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