On July 2, a fire tore through a family’s home on Desert Silver Drive in Horizon City, Texas. Police say the blaze was set on purpose. The house was badly damaged, and the family’s cat did not survive.

Months later, investigators charged two of the people accused in the fire with cruelty to non-livestock animals. Police say three people in total were suspected of taking part in the arson, and all three have since been arrested or processed through the justice system.

Now the case is in the hands of the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office. Animal cruelty charges can be among the first to be reduced or dropped when cases are negotiated. The family lost a beloved pet in a fire that police say someone started deliberately. That loss deserves to be taken seriously in court, not traded away in a plea deal.

This case also shows a bigger problem. In Texas, the law still treats pets largely as property. A family cat killed in an intentional fire is not just damaged belongings. It is a member of the household.

The El Paso County District Attorney’s Office should pursue the animal cruelty charges to the fullest extent the law allows. And the Texas Legislature should strengthen penalties when an animal is killed during an arson or other violent crime, so every family that loses a pet this way sees real accountability.

Sign the petition to demand justice for the Horizon City family and make sure no pet’s death in an intentional fire is treated as an afterthought.