Stakeholder #3

A third and obvious stakeholder in the case of Tiger the cat is the Washington Animal Clinic.  This is the clinic where Kristen Lindsey worked previous to the whole situation.

This clinic is a small animal care facility in Brenham, TX. They focus on caring for household pets such as cats, dogs, rodents, etc. Since the controversy of Kristen Lindsey, this clinic has removed much of its information from the internet (including its website). The only resources available were a phone number and an address.

After calling the clinic multiple times, I finally got the name of one of the head veterinarians at the clinic, Dr. Buenger. The receptionist seemed very nice until I gave my reason for calling. I'm sure they get a lot of heat for having had Kristen Lindsey in their employ. Despite many horrible (and personal) reviews of this clinic, there were a few reviews online that provided some redeeming qualities of the veterinary clinic (like the fact that they, uh, save animals' lives maybe?)

Mr. Betts, an attorney who represented the clinic during the controversy answered a few questions with the KBTX News station (a local Texas news). "The Washington Animal Clinic is all about helping animals...these guys have been in practice since 1976." (Betts, via KBTX News)

From this claim we know that the clinic has done well enough to have been around for over 30 years! The fact that one action by a vet who happened to work at this clinic demolished a reputation that they've been building for decades is tragic.

Hensley, Nicole, "Cat Lady", 04/17/2015 via Screenshot from Facebook, Public Domain

When asked about the photo of Kristen Lindsey, Betts replied that it is "contrary to everything that these guys have stood for and everything they are and everything they do." (Betts, via KBTX News) Clearly the clinic is trying to relay to the public that Lindsey's actions in no way represent their name. To me it seems like they really drew the short straw hiring this woman.

"Any of their customers will tell you that these guys are up in the middle of the night, nights and weekends, and they're all about personal care of these animals in 8 or 10 counties around here on a regular basis." (Betts, via KBTX News)

This truly surprised me. I figured animal clinics were a dime a dozen in a place like Texas, considering the social culture of animals and pets down there. But think of how much this poor clinic had to lose if they were supplying care for such a large area! I know that it was the lawyer's job, as spokesperson for the clinic, to romanticize them and make it seem like they did no wrong, etc. But how evil can an animal clinic really be?

To me, all of these claims are at least somewhat valid, as they were aired on public news and no one (that I could find) poked holes in their claims. The clinic fired Lindsey after her social media post went viral without hesitation.