KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Kaukauna Police Department is making changes to the way it handles animals after an incident involving an officer and a missing cat stirred community outrage.
Last week, Kaukauna resident Michael Lynch found a missing cat. Lynch turned the cat, Walter, over to a police officer, who promised to drop Walter off at a shelter for pickup by his owner.
Lynch then made a post about the rescued cat on a Facebook community page and included photos of Walter. After seeing Lynch’s post, Walter’s owner went to the humane society to pick up their four-legged friend, only to find out that Walter had never been dropped off. Instead, the police officer left Walter in a field over a mile away from where Lynch initially found him.
In a statement Monday, officials said, “Kaukauna Police would first like to extend an apology to the owners of the cat and the Kaukauna community for the way this incident was handled. After taking an in-depth look at how this transpired, we realize that this incident could have been handled much better.”
As a result, new guidelines have been implemented for dealing with animals at large. Going forward, all domesticated animals in the custody of the Kaukauna Police Department will be taken to the Fox Valley Humane Society.
“Every officer at the Kaukauna Police Department has been advised of this process,” the news release states.
Police said an internal investigation was conducted and the officer involved in this incident “has received corrective action.”
