State of WI -vs- John J. Komassa

[Guest]

For those that haven't heard about this, I attached an article of what happened. Below is a link to an online petition to have the charges dropped. Please read both when you have time and sign the petition if you feel it is worthwhile (as I do). http://www.petitiononline.com/jjkvswis/petition.html

Here is Lee Kernen's column for 3/15/2002 (Outdoor News)

Why I’m ashamed to live in Dane County

Although we live far from “La-La” land in California and the citified reaches of the east coast, animal rights zealots have struck right here in Dane County. An emotional Humane Society officer and an apparently clueless Dane County district attorney have combined to issue a criminal complaint against DNR fish hatchery supervisor John Komassa for doing his job and killing a feral cat. He has been charged with mistreatment of animals in Dane County Circuit Court. Let me share with you the facts of this incident and see what you think. John is the 37-year-old supervisor of the Nevin Fish Hatchery, located south of Madison. On Nov. 17, 2001, he was checking on 350,000 wild brook and brown trout eggs that were incubating in batteries in the fish-rearing area of the hatchery building when he saw a cat. It had no collar and he tried to “shoo” (not shoot) the animal out the double door he had opened. After trying for five minutes, he lost sight of the cat and thought it had left. He looked again the following day because he was worried the cat might accidentally run over an electric cord and cut power to the equipment, or even knock the batteries over, thereby jeopardizing the trout eggs which were collected at great effort and expense. But he didn’t see the cat or any evidence that it was still in the building. But the third day, Nov. 19, John got to the hatchery at 5:30 a.m. and saw pools of urine and some feces, a tipped over garbage can and a bag of trout pellet food that had been torn open. Some food had been eaten. He searched again and eventually flushed the cat and tried to chase it out an open door again, but it wouldn’t leave the building. He had it in a dip net momentarily, but it escaped and ran into the furnace boiler room, where John closed the door behind it. He then donned a pair of heavy leather gloves and attempted to grab the cat and put it outside. As he got it by the scruff of the neck in his right hand, the cat twisted and bit him on his left hand. He dropped it to examine his wound. Just as he feared, he was bleeding and now was worried the animal was rabid. John knew that a rabies test requires a brain sample from the dead animal. Fearful the animal might escape, he picked up a short piece of square, hollow, aluminum “tubing” and struck the cat a few times until it was still. He did not beat the cat, but tried to kill it as quickly as possible. He then called the animal control office to get the animal tested for rabies, and a Fitchburg police officer came and got it. Meanwhile, he went to the urgent care clinic and had his bite wound disinfected and he was given a 10-day supply of antibiotic to take home. He cleaned up the hatchery immediately and the next day was visited by Humane Society officer Cheri Carr, who came to write up the incident. Little did he know that she would become his accuser. Two days later John received word the cat was not rabid. He went on with his life of rearing fish for the anglers of Wisconsin. But, on Dec. 20, 2001, John received a summons at his house from a Dane County Sheriff’s Department deputy. It charged John with the crime of mistreatment of animals. This is a Class A misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $10,000 and up to nine months in jail. Because this is a criminal charge, John can’t even get any help from the DNR or Department of Justice attorneys. He had to hire his own attorney and is already out $3,500. What kind of man is John Komassa? He has always loved animals and he used to work with the large cats - tigers, etc. - in the Milwaukee zoo before he came to work for DNR. John and his wife have a pet cat in their home. They got it from a Verona veterinary clinic because it was homeless - just a month before the incident at the hatchery with the feral cat. Meanwhile, across the nation, animal rights zealots and PETA members who don ’t know the whole story are calling for John to be fired. Over 150 letters and 50 e-mails from around the world have gone to the DNR’s South-Central region headquarters. The e-mails claim that John used an aluminum baseball bat to do the cat in, implying he is some sort of monster - all of which is complete fabrication. No one has written in on John’s behalf. Are these messages from California and other distant states the cause of the unwillingness of Dane County to just drop the case and get on with more important activities? John isn’t sleeping well these days. If the case goes to trial and he loses, he also will have a huge legal fee. Still, he’s innocent and doesn’t want to admit to something he did while doing his job, protecting our fish. If John Komassa gets tagged with a conviction on this case, it will have far-reaching implications on all DNR hatcheries and the Poynette Game Farm. Employees will be afraid to protect our investments. I truly hope this ends on a high note for John, but if it doesn’t, I’m going to start a fund to pay for his legal fees and I hope many of you readers will pitch in. Meanwhile, Dane County is overrun with an estimated 80,000 feral cats. A California “pet rescue” foundation has given money to have Dane County vets spay and neuter these wild cats. The goal is to do 1,000 of them in the first year, and then they will be released back into the wild! To kill another several thousand song birds and small mammals! Now do you see why I’ m ashamed? Lee Kernen of Madison is the state’s former fisheries director.

[Guest]

From what I've read on your post, John was very humane. Clubbing a cat with a metal bar or bat for a quick kill is very humane. The only way John should ever be charged for this "crime" that PETA is claiming is if the feral cat didn't bite him and he kicked it around.

[JIGSTER]

Simply unbelievable,Hooray for the trout to dam bad for the cat.Let the man go and do his job!!!!!!!!!

Keep Jiggin'

Jigster

[Gissert]

I add the Sierra Club to the Humane Society and PETA organizations who have ulterior motives when it comes to hunting/fishing activities.

[Guest]

Sierra Club is definately another great example. I've got one... a fairly new group... Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation.

[fishtrap2]

PETA=People Eating Tasty Animals

As for the wild cats... PULL...BANG!!

[Gissert]

MRR is DEFINATELY a bad news group. They hate anything with an internal combustion engine, and seem to be well funded. They also have the ears of a few key legislators.

The Sierra club keeps mailing me info packets for some reason. They must have purchased my name and address from a list somewhere. I take everything out of packet with my name on it, and then stuff the envelope full of blank paper and return it to them. I even drew a nifty elk rack and cape on the sticker of a hiker they sent me, LOL.

[SportFishin']

Hey Gissert & Everyone,

I have done the same thing that you mentioned. I send all there propaganda back to them & some times send along the latest photo copies of the pictures of myself from birdhunts with my lab & bagged large game. A friend told about doing that & it has turned into a fun pastime for junk mail from Ultra-Liberal Groups.

Proud Life member of
P eople
E ating
T asty
A nimals

[Guest]

Altho he's got to go to the trouble and cost of defending himself, if Kernan's story is accurate, there are no witnesses and no evidence other than what he reported himself. A good defense attorney should be able to get this dropped w/o trial. If for no other reason, the evidence against him would be taken from his own words -- given without any warning of criminal charges.

[Guest]

I have been preaching to anyone who will listen to me for quite some time that the Humane Society of America is as dangerous and probably more than PETA. The Humane Society much like PETA survives on public donations. However, the Humane Society often acquires donated money from mass charitable organizations like the United Way. So, think twice before you give to these organizations. And, I don't know for sure, but I believe they get local government backing.

The Humane Society does serve some purpose in relocating and destroying unwanted pets. But, I suspect there ultimate goal is much like PETA's. Achieve human rights status for all animals. That means an end to hunting and fishing as we know it.

I will also be the first to admit that if I see an uncollared cat and I'm armed, it will get shot. They are killing machines. Plus, I really think cats in general are the seed of Satan, but that's kind of a different subject.

[Guest]

I wish Mr. Komassa all the luck and hope he files a counter-suit against peta for harrassment and terroristic actions!

peta="poorly educated terrorist association"

Gotta really stress the "poorly educated" here...like, all the way graduated from the 2nd grade!!!

[Guest]

This is certainly a waste of tax payer dollars, and good people's dollars! There appears to be no crime committed, by the facts given. This is nothing more than a political move by the animal rights nuts.

Clayton,
As for your argument that nothing John said can be used against him... assuming that you're basing that statement on the 5th ammendment... that is not entirely true. They can use what he said against him, because when John gave his statements, he probably did so voluntarily and uncoerced.... with good reason, because he obviously didn't think this was going to be a criminal issue.

I will be signing the petition right away, and I wish John the best of luck.

Good Luck,
Rusty

[Guest]

Rusty -- I did not say "nothing he said could be used against him," I said that if the skimpy facts given by Kernen are correct, defense counsel could get this one dismissed. The manner in which the info was obtained could easily be ruled a circumvention. Procedure is flawed, and any prosecutor would know it. Appellate courts do not hold in favor of "voluntary confessions" that smell fishy (no pun intended).

It's a shame John has to go thru this -- but it's doubtful a case against him would prevail.

[Guest]

Further voice your opinion to the board members of the shelter that started all this!!

http://humanesociety.dane.wi.us/location.html#contact

[Reel Inn]

I am on Mr. Komassa's side, it looks like he did this for the protection of himself, and the job he was performing, esp. himself, what if the cat did have rabies, and that he did not kill the cat, then what, to go thru the pianful series of rabies shot's.
People look at where your donation's of money are going, ask The united Way what they do with there money, I quite giving to them 5-years ago. Now I just give to the one's that I know what specific things they spend there money on.
Good Luk in this case, and hope it is Dropped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Matt D]

Capital Times reported on Sat. March 23 that the charges were DROPPED. The article is online through their site; I won't post a link (avoiding hassles), but a quick search will get you there if you really want to read it.

OUT

[Raven]

Got to tell you. I am on the Board of Directors of a humane society. And in no way do I support PETA or any other organization that tries to mess with my hunting or fishing. The charges being leveled against this guy are outrageous. I am signing the petition, you can bet on that.

I will say, one way to make sure radicals don't rule the roost is to join in such a way that you have something to say about how things are run. You can't do it from the outside. Of course, I am not saying joing PETA, but you can make a difference in your local humane society.

[Guest]

There's an enormous difference between local humane societies and the radical Humane Society of the U.S. -- HSUS is the one that bombards households with their biased lit and requests for donations. The name sounds innocent, and that's part of the problem.

[Steve Foss]

This is from Saturday's Capital Times:

Charge dropped in cat death

By Steven Elbow, March 23, 2002

The Dane County District Attorney decided Friday to drop a charge
against the superintendent of the state's Nevin Fish Hatchery
stemming from an incident during which he bludgeoned a cat to death.

John J. Komassa, 37, reportedly beat the stray cat to death with a
piece of aluminum at the Fitchburg facility after it bit him on Nov.
19. He was charged with misdemeanor mistreatment of animals, which
carries a sentence of up to nine months in jail.

District Attorney Brian Blanchard said he decided to drop the charge
on the grounds that Komassa reasonably believed that he was at risk
of contracting rabies from the feral animal. According to the
criminal complaint against Komassa, the cat had been a nuisance at
the fish hatchery for days, prompting Komassa to chase it out of the
building two days prior to the fatal encounter. On the day he killed
the cat he found cat urine and was concerned about the fish and the
sanitation at the facility. He tried to catch the cat but it bit him
through his glove, so he decided his only option was to kill it.

A spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, which
employs Komassa, maintained that Komassa was authorized to kill any
animal that presented a threat of disease or might eat the fish.

Blanchard declined comment on whether Komassa's killing of the cat
would have been legal if the issue of disease had not arisen.

"It would be unfair to Mr. Komassa to discuss the case," he said. "He
is no longer charged with any crime or civil forfeiture, and this
office will take no further action."

Published: 9:57 AM 3/23/02

[Guest]

I think the people of peta should get some real jobs and some lifes. They should also quite pocketing money from everybody else. They should quite trying to ruin all the sports dealing with animals.

[Raven]

Check out page 2- "Help stop PETA." Take away their non-profit status and they are out of business. Everyone should sign that petition.

[Guest]

Hey PETA, I am an animal and you are harassing me. Knock it off.

[Jimmy]

He stopped one worthless cat to save thousands of precious fish. I'm on his side!