PORTAGE, WI (OnFocus) – On Wednesday, August 9, 2023, the Portage Police Department was requested to check the welfare of a male subject residing in the 800 block of E. Edgewater St. in the City of Portage. Information was received that he had adopted a number of domestic rabbits from various animal rescue centers in and around the southern Wisconsin area and several of the rabbits were alleged to have been killed by mistreatment and cruelty.
While at the residence Officers could not locate any live rabbits on premise, however, they did observe multiple shallow graves in the backyard. A number of decomposing rabbit carcasses were recovered and further investigation yielded evidence to support that multiple rabbits had been killed through inhumane, brutal and sadistic means.
As a result of the investigation, Donald M. Klawes, age 32, of Portage was arrested and transported to the Columbia County Jail on multiple counts of Mistreatment of Animals-Causing Death. These charges are merely an accusation of criminal conduct where probable cause existed for an arrest. The individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Klawes is scheduled to make an initial appearance in Columbia County Court on Friday, August 11, 2023.
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Author: News Desk
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