ALDF Urges Justice for Cat Victims in Elkhart County

On July 9, 2025, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) sent a letter urging Prosecuting Attorney Vicki Elaine Becker in Elkhart County, Indiana, to re-file charges against employees of Jayco RV who reportedly killed two cats by crushing them in a trash compactor. The prosecutor initially filed charges against the employees, but soon after dismissed them, citing reasons that ALDF found concerning, particularly given the potentially broader implications throughout the state of Indiana and beyond.

In dismissing the charges, Prosecuting Attorney Becker publicly claimed that an exception to Indiana’s cruelty statute applies, purportedly because the cats had previously destroyed property prior to their brutal killing. However, ALDF argues that this application of the property destruction exception [IND. CODE § 35-46-3-12(e)(1)(B) is flawed, as the statute’s narrow exception was clearly intended to permit immediate interventions for ongoing threats, such as a wild animal actively attacking farmed animals (noted as livestock in the statute) or destroying crops — which clearly does not reflect the facts in the case at hand. ALDF maintains that nothing in the cruelty statute supports the position that this exception was designed to grant private citizens the authority to brutally kill animals such as these cats hours, days, or even weeks after any alleged property damage occurred. If this were the legislature’s intent, Indiana’s cruelty statute would effectively become self-defeating: It would prohibit unjustified harm to animals while simultaneously creating a loophole in which such harm could be easily and almost universally excused.

In a statement released from Prosecuting Attorney Becker’s office, the catching and subsequent killing of the cats in a trash compactor was analogized to the catching and asphyxiation of wild animals as laid out in Indiana’s fur trapping law. The prosecutor claimed that since the law pertaining to permitted traps designed to kill animals allow a vertebrate animal to be held up to 48 hours, and because the cats’ suffering was not prolonged by their death in the trash compactor, criminal charges would not be filed. However, ALDF’s letter notes that the cruelty statute and the trapping laws are separate frameworks, serving distinct purposes, and are not interchangeable.

Prosecuting Attorney Becker also repeatedly claimed that the cats were killed in a manner that “did not prolong suffering.” However, ALDF’s position is that the process of placing live animals in a trash compactor — a confined, mechanical environment — would trigger intense physiological and psychological distress. This position is supported by leading animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin, who has noted that “[b]oth fear and pain can cause suffering…” and that “in assessing criteria for suffering, psychological stress which is fear stress, should be considered as important as suffering induced by pain.” Even if death occurred quickly, ALDF maintains that the egregious circumstances of the cats’ deaths meet the standard for abuse under Indiana’s cruelty statute.

Indiana is ranked 21st in ALDF’s annual U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Ranking Report, which ranks the animal protection laws of all 50 states.