On May 9th, 2005, Shilka was sentenced after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor cruelty to animal charge. He paid $300 restitution to the cat's owner, a $250 fine plus court costs. He will also have to do 10 hrs community service.

Source: WI court case #2004CF000923

An animal-mistreatment charge against a town of Oneida man accused of shooting and killing a neighbor�s cat was reduced to a misdemeanor Friday.

James Shilka, 59, originally was charged with a felony after he told police he killed the neighbor�s pet that had wandered onto his property Sept. 26.

That charge was amended to a less-serious misdemeanor offense in a revised criminal complaint issued at what had been scheduled as a preliminary hearing.

If convicted of animal mistreatment under the amended charge, Shilka will face a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.

The felony charge carried a maximum prison sentence of three years.

The lack of a felony charge made the preliminary hearing, a court action designed to determine if probable cause exists to justify a felony case �moot,� said Outagamie County Court Commissioner Brian Figy. A plea hearing will be scheduled before Circuit Judge Dennis Luebke.

A neighbor who allowed the cat to roam the area grew concerned when the 9-year-old feline did not return.

She found the cat�s body on Shilka�s property, dead as the result of a bullet wound to the head.

Source: Green Bay Press Gazette

A $1,500 signature bond was set Thursday when James J. Shilka, 59 of the Town of Oneida made his initial court appearance on a felony charge of mistreatment of an animal.

Outagamie County Court Commissioner Brian Figy set the bond, and ordered that Shilka not use or possess any firearms while the case is pending.

Figy, however, rejected a request from Assistant Dist. Atty. Winn Collins that Shilka not have any contact with domestic animals as a condition of bond.

Shilka�s attorney, Michael Rudolph, said his client shot what he �believed to be a feral cat.�

He said Shilka �has no problems with� domesticated, treated animals.

Figy said he would not order the restriction �based on the allegation that this is an isolated incident.�

A preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial will be scheduled later.

Rudolph said he would reserve the right to object to jurisdictional issues later.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 3 and a half years of prison and extended supervision.

According to the criminal complaint, Gail Carriveau, W1434 County J, let out her 9-year-old cat, Sheba, on Sept. 26 and the cat never returned. Carriveau searched for her cat, posted fliers and checked area animal shelters.

During a later search, she went on to Shilka�s property and found her cat�s carcass behind a building.

Shilka allegedly admitted to police he shot the cat in the head with a .357 Magnum when it came onto his property, and he then threw the carcass down the hill behind his pole barn.

Shilka allegedly told police �that there are numerous cats on his property and they are nuisances.�

Carriveau told police on May 18, another one of her cats was shot and had to have its leg amputated. On July 25, 2003, another cat was found dead in her garage of a gunshot wound to the abdomen and another cat in June or July 2000 received a minor leg injury.

Shilka is not charged in those incidents.

Source: The Post-Crescent - Jan 7, 2005