http://www.startribune.com/462/story/992361.html

WEST CONCORD, Minn. — The mayor of this southern Minnesota town is
defending the police chief after criminal charges that he killed cats,
including using a rifle to shoot out of a moving vehicle while trying to
kill one stray.

Chief Robert Utech is charged in Dodge County District Court with felony
mistreatment of animals and a gross misdemeanor charge of misconduct by
a public official. He's on paid administrative leave.

But at a raucous town meeting Thursday night, Mayor Burt Boe called the
charges "trumped up'' and said that even if Utech did shoot cats — which
Boe insists he didn't — it was because of complaints that stray cats are
overrunning the city.

"These cats have pretty (much) cleaned out all the song birds in this
town,'' Boe said. "And because there are so many of them, they're hard
to catch. They're hard to catch. You got to really work at it.''

The criminal complaint charges Utech with shooting the cats and dumping
their remains near a grain elevator in town. In the complaint, Tom
Sendecky, a former part-time West Concord police officer, contends that
he was once driving a squad car while Utech, seated in the passenger
seat, was pointing a rifle out the window and shooting at a cat.

Utech then allegedly got out of the squad car and shot at the cat as he
chased it down Main Street, the complaint said.

Utech has not yet entered a plea to the charges. He could not
immediately be reached for comment Friday. His attorney, Tony Spector,
told The Associated Press he had no comment on the charges.

The Dodge County Sheriff's Office launched the investigation after a
West Concord resident reported that six of his cats had been shot, and
he suspected Utech was involved. The case has since been turned over to
the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office.

At the Thursday night meeting, resident Carl Martin defended Utech as a
kind-hearted animal lover who has nine cats of his own. Martin also said
the allegations are hard to believe because Utech is known around town
as a bad shot. "I doubt Bob could hit the cat,'' he said.

But some residents expressed concern that the case was making West
Concord, in the words of one meeting attendee, the "laughingstock of
southern Minnesota.'' The city of 850 residents is about 30 miles west
of Rochester.

"I got friends two hours away calling and mentioning about the city of
West Concord,'' resident Scott Greenwood said. "They make this town look
like a bunch of hillbillies.'' (End of story)

Well DUH! When people act like this, they are worse than hillbillies!

This makes me so angry. On the local news, it was reported that this cat
murderer had *bragged* to three people about what he had done saying 'I
hate cats; it's what I do' (or words to that effect).

And this cat murderer is on *PAID administrative leave!!!*

And his equally degenerate (IMHO) buddy the Mayor is actually supporting
this degenerate cat murderer.

On the TV news story about this, one of the town residents had several
of her cats go missing, and she somehow knew someone was shooting them,
but although she repeatedly reported it to the >>Chief of Police<<
NOTHING WAS EVER DONE.

This guy should be locked up for years for what he has done. From seeing
the news story on TV, it sounded like the cats were all pets, NOT feral
cats, as the lame cover-up claims.

The only thing I can do is ask for purrs for those poor kitties, and
their devastated humans, who are just now learning what happened to
their missing fur babies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Life is very difficult. Once you understand that, life becomes easier.
-Buddha

It would go a long way towards cheering me up if I heard a new report
that this cat murderer's body was found dumped by a grain elevator....