Kerrville Man Charged With Animal Cruelty After Missing Family Dog Found Dead in Creek Off Medina Hwy

KERRVILLE, Texas — What started as a search for a missing family dog on Medina Highway ended with the dog found dead in a creek and a Kerrville man, previously convicted of family violence assault, booked into the Kerr County Jail on an animal cruelty charge.

According to the Kerr County Sheriff's Office, a deputy was dispatched on September 18 to a home in the 3200 block of Medina Highway after the family reported their dog missing. The deputy widened the search beyond the immediate area, and the dog was found dead in a nearby creek.

Investigators say the manner of the dog's death, along with interviews the deputy conducted, led them to Cade Joseph Stanton, 34, of Kerrville. Jail records list Stanton's address in the same block of Medina Highway.

Stanton was arrested without a warrant and booked into the Kerr County Jail the same day. He is charged with cruelty to a nonlivestock animal. Jail records list the charge as killing, poisoning or causing serious bodily injury to an animal, which under Texas Penal Code § 42.092 means doing so without the owner's consent. His bond was set at $10,000.

A prior conviction

This is not Stanton's first criminal case in Kerr County. Court records show he was arrested April 28, 2024, and charged with assault causing bodily injury – family violence, a Class A misdemeanor. In October 2024 he pleaded no contest in Kerr County Court at Law and was convicted. Judge Susan Harris sentenced him to 365 days in jail, probated for 12 months, plus 60 days of shock jail time in the Kerr County Jail, a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service and a 24-week batterer's intervention program. The court also ordered him to have no contact with the victim or family.

Records show he completed the batterer's intervention program and was discharged from probation in October 2025, less than a year before his latest arrest.

What Texas law says

Section 42.092 is Texas' cruelty to nonlivestock animals statute. It covers pets and other domesticated animals, not cattle, horses or other livestock, which fall under a separate law. The statute defines an animal as a domesticated living creature, including stray or feral cats and dogs and wild creatures that have previously been captured, and it defines a "cruel manner" as one that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.

The law lists a range of offenses. They include torturing an animal or cruelly killing or seriously injuring one; killing, poisoning or seriously injuring an animal without the owner's consent; failing to provide necessary food, water, care or shelter; abandoning an animal; and transporting or confining one in a cruel manner.

The penalties depend on which offense is charged. Killing, poisoning or seriously injuring an animal without the owner's consent is a third-degree felony. It becomes a second-degree felony if the person has a prior conviction for certain animal cruelty offenses. Stanton's prior assault conviction does not trigger that enhancement. In Texas, a third-degree felony carries two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Lesser offenses, such as failing to provide care or unreasonably abandoning an animal, are generally Class A misdemeanors, which can rise to a state jail felony with repeat convictions.

The law was tightened in 2025. Lawmakers added criminal negligence to the mental states that can support a charge, for offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025. Before that, prosecutors had to show a person acted intentionally, knowingly or recklessly.

The Sheriff's Office noted that charges may be added or modified before trial. Stanton is presumed innocent of the current charge unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.