KAUKAUNA — Responding to a video circulating online about an officer’s actions in a stray cat call, the Kaukauna Police Department is admitting they should have handled the situation better.
“We need to get better as a department,” Assistant Chief Bradley Sanderfoot said Tuesday.
A video shared online by Michael Lynch shows his interaction with a Kaukauna police officer when Lynch called them after capturing a stray cat.
Lynch said that unfortunately, the officer in the video never brought the cat to safety. Instead, he drove about ten minutes away and abandoned the cat.
Sanderfoot said the details of the event that were posted online are mostly accurate.
The following day, the cat’s owner reached out to Lynch. She went to the station to get him, only to learn they never received him.
After posting the video, Lynch also said he talked to Kaukauna Mayor Tony Penterman about the incident.
He said Penterman made him feel heard and gave him confidence in the community, especially knowing that Penterman himself has helped a lost animal find its way back home.
Sanderfoot was apologetic when contacted Tuesday. He said all officers have been briefed on the proper procedures for stray cat calls, and they are looking into the incident internally.
These are often judgement calls on the officers’ part, Sanderfoot said.
In some instances, Sanderfoot said, police are allowed to release cats back into the neighborhood if they believe the owner lives nearby, but that wasn’t clear-cut in this incident.
Sanderfoot said police guidelines are to not take in cats because in most cases, the cats do live nearby.
Otherwise, in the case of nuisance or feral cats, they’re taken to a local humane shelter.
In this case, the cat, Walter, was eventually found and is back with its owner.
For his part, Lynch says he just wants to see real change and a sincere apology to the community and the owner of the cat.
“Kaukauna is a beautiful place filled with amazing people who strive to do the right thing,” he said. “I hope this serves as a learning experience and that proper action is taken to ensure something like this never happens again. At the end of the day, every son and daughter deserves to hug and kiss their pets goodnight.”
