Taking out your anger on those helpless to defend - cowards

By ED TRELEVEN etreleven@madison.com 608-252-6134 madison.com Posted: Tuesday, November 2, 2010 7:54 pm

.A Sun Prairie man, upset that his wife's dog had chewed one of his hats, beat the dog and cut its throat, leaving it to bleed to death, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court.

Michael W. Aasen, 25, was charged with felony animal mistreatment for the dog's death on Friday. He also faces a misdemeanor animal mistreatment charge for allegedly choking the same dog, a boxer-lab mix named Bentley, in June with speaker wire and throwing it against a wall, breaking one of its legs, according to the complaint.

Aasen also was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and a count of misdemeanor battery for allegedly battering his wife the same night and earlier.

Aasen was jailed on $3,000 bail after appearing in court Tuesday. Attorney Antonette Laitsch told Court Commissioner Todd Meurer that Aasen is an Army veteran who is on disability.

Aasen told police that he has post-traumatic stress disorder, the complaint states, but said it had nothing to do with his anger at the dog.

According to the complaint:

Aasen's wife, Kelsey Meyer, told Sun Prairie police that she and Aasen returned home to discover the chewed hat, which angered Aasen, causing him to yell at the dog and hit it, scaring it so much it defecated on the floor.

Meyer went out to get carpet cleaner and returned to hear the bathtub running. She said her husband told her, "Get in here. I just killed the (expletive) dog."

Asked what he did, she said, Aasen told her, "I slit her throat and watched her bleed. That (expletive) dog deserved it."
Under statute 951.02 of Wisconsin State Law, the mistreatment of an animal, causing his or her death is a felony. Please contact Judge Sarah O'Brien and politely urge the strongest application of the law in this case.

There will be a preliminary hearing for this case on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. in the 6th Floor Courtroom (6D) of the Dane County Courthouse (see address below).
Under statute 951.02 of Wisconsin State Law, the mistreatment of an animal, causing his or her death is a felony. Please contact Judge Sarah O'Brien and politely urge the strongest application of the law in this case.

Attn: The Honorable Sarah O'Brien
Dane County Courthouse
Room 6109
215 S Hamilton St.
Madison, WI 53703-3290

Phone: 608-267-1566


http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/167654/6e1af7efff/230358/d54eaea6d6/


A slight change. Right now, instead of contacting the judge, please
contact the Dane County District Attorney and ask him to prosecute to
the fullest extent of the law.

Dane County District Attorney
Ismael R. Ozanne

Dane County District Attorney's Office
215 S. Hamilton St. # 3000
Madison WI 53703-3297
PH: (608) 266-4211
FX: (608) 267-2545
Email: danecoda@da.wi.gov

For more on the case see:

Sun Prairie man charged with killing wife's dog
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?TheAllianceforAnimal/6e1af7efff/d54eaea6d6/3172cda33a

__
JANESVILLE — After his ex-wife moved out, Steven F. Wehler is accused of fatally shooting two cats she wanted in their divorce.

"One cat would sit on the porch on a chair and whine continually, wanting in the house," Wehler told a Rock County sheriff's deputy. "The second cat would sit on the porch roof and scratch the window screen, trying to get into the home."

Those are among the allegations in a criminal complaint charging, Wehler, 57, Janesville, of felony mistreatment of animals. Wehler appeared Monday in Rock County Court for an initial appearance. He was released on a signature bond.

According to the criminal complaint:

Wehler's ex-wife, Laury, had filed for divorce in January 2009. The two remained living together until June 2009.

She told a Rock County sheriff's deputy she was taking care of the cats in the couple's home. She wanted the cats in the divorce settlement.

Laury went to Missouri in mid-June 2009 to stay with a friend when the home environment started to become hostile. When Laury returned, she asked for the cats.

Her ex-husband told her he had shot the cats. She said her ex-husband admitted under oath that he killed the cats and buried them in a compost pile.

A deputy then questioned Steven Wehler, who told the deputy he was court ordered to pay $150 a week to buy food for the house. He said Laury refused to buy groceries or cat food.

He told the deputy he was tired of the cats keeping him awake. He said he was unable to keep up with bills.

Laury didn't report the killings until March 20. She told the deputy she was afraid to report the crime because of her home environment.

The couple's divorce was final in December 2009.

If convicted, Wehler faces a maximum three years and six months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

He is scheduled to appear in Rock Co court Nov. 22 for a preliminary hearing.

Join Our Network of Foster Homes By Becoming A SAAV Foster Parent!

To truly serve domestic abuse victims with animals, it is necessary to have shelter programs like The SAAV Program available in all communities, both in Wisconsin and nationally. We are pleased to provide information and advice to any individuals or organizations interested in creating a shelter program or other resources for domestic abuse victims and their animals.

The SAAV Program is the product of a grassroots effort started by two law students and made possible through the dedication of other folks interested in making a difference in their community. Our program is a community collaboration with our local domestic abuse and animal abuse organizations, who have come together to share in our mission.

Unfortunately, our shelter services are limited to Dane County, Wisconsin, because we simply do not have the resources to serve a greater geographic area.

For information about starting a shelter program, or if we can be of assistance in some other way, please email us at info@saavprogram.org.

The SAAV Program is made possible only because normal, every day people open their homes to animals affected by domestic abuse by becoming SAAV Foster Parents.

We ask our volunteer fosters to make a commitment to sheltering an animal affected by domestic abuse for a period of up to 90 days. The foster period is sometimes shorter than 90 days, but will not be longer than 90 days.

Once approved as a SAAV Foster Parent, we will call you if we are in need of a foster home, but you are never obligated to take an animal into your home when we call and ask for help. If, for example, you will be away on a vacation, or the timing is not good for some other reason, you may simply decline to accept a foster animal at that time.

It is our goal to have an extensive network of potential foster homes available in Dane County so that we do not burn out our volunteers. We also ask our foster parents to become part of our overall mission to raise community awareness about the link between domestic abuse and animal cruelty. To aid in that goal, we ask our fosters to attend a SAAV Program Foster Orientation session before they become foster parents. We hold orientation sessions several times a year, in which volunteers from The SAAV Program, and staff from Domestic Abuse Intervention Services and the Dane County Humane Society, educate our fosters and other volunteers about domestic abuse and how animals are used by batterers in the cycle of abuse.

We want our fosters and other volunteers to learn about domestic abuse, so that they can have a greater understanding of the many complexities that domestic abuse victims face when trying to flee abuse.

To become a SAAV Foster Parent, complete the DCHS Foster Application and the SAAV Foster Application on our Home page, and email it to us at info@saavprogram.org, or, by mail, PO Box 5152, Madison, WI 53705.