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https://community.hsus.org/campaign/WI_2009_cruelty_pets_shot
In late January, sheriffs deputies in Chippewa County, Wisc. discovered what they described as one of the worst animal cruelty cases they had ever seen: Raymond E. Knez allegedly came home one morning, rounded up the family pets and, one by one, shot them to death, reportedly in front of his own children. To date, Knez has been charged with multiple crimes, but he faces only misdemeanor animal cruelty charges for the deaths of his family's six pets.
Although Knez has only been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty, Wisconsin's felony animal cruelty law clearly states that anyone who intentionally mistreats an animal, resulting in that animal's death, is guilty of a class E Felony.
Please call Chippewa County District Attorney Jon Theisen at 715-726-7740 and ask him to aggressively investigate this case, and, if warranted by the evidence, file felony animal cruelty charges.
Please ensure justice for family pets shot to death!
Dear Mr. Theisen
Thank you for filing animal cruelty charges against Raymond
Knez, who reportedly shot to death his children's six pets.
Please do all you can to ensure that these animals' terrible,
needless suffering is redressed by upgrading the animal cruelty
charges from a misdemeanor to a felony.
A parent who deliberately kills a child's pet commits not only a
horrible crime of violence against the animal but also a crime
of terror against the child. This type of extreme, egregious
abuse demands accountability.
Domestic abusers often hurt or kill a family pet in order to
terrorize and exert control over a family member. Without stern
intervention, people who attack or kill family pets often
escalate their violence to include the human members of the
family.
For the sake of animals and people in the community, this case
should be aggressively investigated, and, if warranted, fully
prosecuted under Wisconsin's felony animal cruelty statute.
Animal abusers need to know that animal cruelty is a serious
crime that will not be tolerated.
Please do everything you can to ensure that this animal cruelty
case is aggressively prosecuted as a felony and that, upon any
conviction, significant jail time, psychological counseling and
a permanent ban on animal ownership are part of the sentencing
conditions.
Thank you for your time in this important case.
[Your name]