FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – It's a video so disturbing we can't show it to you.
When Kaelyn Henderson, of Friendswood, received it from her cousin, 28-year-old Blake Morecraft, of Dickinson, she said she knew exactly what to do.
"I called the police shortly after that," she said.
Henderson called the police because the video shows a young opossum with a large hook inserted into its back. At one point, the video shows the opossum flailing as it is being dangled from the hook. In another image, you can see the animal being pulled across the floor by the line attached to the hook.
Henderson said Morecraft was the one who inserted the hook into the animal.
"I immediately told him to put it back," Henderson said. "Put the possum back."
Henderson said Morecraft told her he was using the young possum as bait to catch a large fish near his home in Dickinson. Henderson is Morecraft's second cousin. She said she has never seen him fish in his life. But regardless of the reason, she believes it was wrong to treat an animal, even one that is sometimes looked at as a nuisance by some, in this manner.
"It's morally wrong what he did, regardless of whether it's a nuisance or not," Henderson said. "It had feelings. It could've been done humanely."
Police said the video was sent this past Saturday and they were able to arrest Morecraft on Wednesday on outstanding warrants in Webster. He was then charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals, which is a third-degree felony. His bond was set at $50,000.
At this point, the whereabouts of the animal, or if it even survived, are unknown.
