Wausau man appears in court Tuesday on felony charge of animal abuse after injured cat found in locked shed
WAUSAU – A 31-year-old man facing a charge of animal abuse causing disfigurement made his initial appearance Tuesday in Marathon County Circuit Court.
Andrew M. Gehr, of Wausau, originally faced a misdemeanor charge of intentionally mistreating an animal for the August incident involving a cat, but prosecutors amended the charges to include a felony in December. Gehr is free on a $1,000 signature bond set Aug. 23.
According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 12, Gehr, who was living in Schofield at the time, had gotten up at 4 a.m. to go to work. A woman was still in bed but awake and watching a security camera inside the home. The woman saw Gehr appear to be petting the cat, Penelope, who was inside a crate. The woman then saw Gehr bring his hand back and punch Penelope, according to the complaint.
The woman was upset and texted Gehr about what she saw. He texted her back admitting he had hit Penelope and said he was going to see a doctor for help, according to the complaint.
The woman later told officers Penelope had bitten Gehr, and he became very upset with the cat, according to the complaint.
On Aug. 21, the woman left the house to go to work and saw Penelope as she was leaving. When the woman returned from work that afternoon, she could not find Penelope. Gehr said he had taken out the trash and left the door open, allowing the cat to escape, according to the complaint.
The woman put flyers up around the neighborhood and posted on her social media sites about the missing cat. Gehr appeared to be trying to help and put food and water out on the porch for Penelope, who had never left the home before, according to the complaint.
Three days later, on Aug. 24, the woman decided to look for the cat inside a shed behind the house. The shed was locked and only Gehr had the key, according to the complaint. The woman told Gehr she wanted to put boxes inside the shed to get them out of her vehicle.
Gehr at first said he had to use the bathroom, but the woman told him she needed to leave for work and wanted the shed unlocked right away, according to the complaint. After Gehr unlocked the shed, he began moving boxes out of it. The woman said he didn't need to do that, because they were putting things in and not taking them out.
Gehr threw a decorative item back into the shed and the woman looked inside. There she found an injured Penelope in the corner and called police.
An officer went into the shed and saw Penelope backed up against a window air conditioner. The cat's left eye was dark, dried and popped out of its socket, according to the complaint. Penelope had blood and dirt crusted to her nose and mouth. There was a glass dish in front of her with blood smeared on the outside and cat food on the inside, according to the complaint. There was "a multitude" of quarter-sized blood droplets around the cat.
Gehr said another animal must have injured Penelope and then the cat must have gotten inside the shed to hide, according to the complaint. The officer found no openings in the shed large enough for Penelope to have gotten through and questioned the food in the dish, which someone must have put in the shed.
Gehr's next court appearance is scheduled for May 17. If convicted of both charges, Gehr, who previously was convicted of a felony, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and 3 months in prison.
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau man faces animal abuse charge after cat found injured in shed
