GREENBUSH – When Michael Mitchell found his family cat, Dakota, dead and buried in a shallow grave by the railroad tracks near his Greenbush house, he says he was determined to find out what had happened.

After Mitchell conducted some of the investigation himself, he and Game Warden Dave Georgia presented the case to the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office, and a Greenbush man now faces charges for killing the animal.

The tragic affair began last fall when Mitchell and his wife, Shirley, heard a gunshot around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 near their home.

“It was really close and we knew it was too close for comfort, but I don’t want to be up everybody’s backside that shoots around here,” Mitchell said.

When Dakota didn’t return home that night, the Mitchells grew worried. Michael Mitchell searched the yard and road near their home, but didn’t find the gray tabby cat.

He checked periodically through the night to make sure Dakota hadn’t come home, but when there was no sign of the cat by morning the couple knew something was wrong.

Mitchell took his ATV and began searching along the railroad tracks that border a portion of the couple’s 16-acre property.

About 500 feet from the roadway and partway up the more than 5-foot embankment that supports the tracks, Mitchell spotted the cat.”Right about eye level, there was my cat’s back stuck out of that shallow grave,” he said.

On closer examination, Mitchell said, it appeared Dakota had been shot in the middle of the tracks. It also looked as if the cat had been picked up by the tail and placed on the bank where dirt had been kicked over him in an attempt to bury him.

A necropsy conducted at the University of Maine and paid for by Mitchell confirmed that the cat had been shot with a rifle.

Mitchell said distinct footprints could be seen in the dirt around the area where he found Dakota.

“I didn’t disturb any of that,” he said.

Mitchell returned to the house and told his wife to call the police, who referred her to the local animal control officer. Then Game Warden Dave Georgia was called in to investigate.

Since then, Richard Madden, 47, of Greenbush has been charged with cruelty to animals, shooting a firearm on or near a public way, and shooting a domestic animal, according to District Attorney R. Christopher Almy.

Madden is scheduled to appear April 17 at 3rd District Court in Bangor for arraignment on the three misdemeanors. Cruelty to animals is a Class D crime, and if convicted, Madden could face up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. The other two charges are Class E misdemeanors that could bring Madden six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each.

Because Madden was also linked to a dog getting shot in December, it was unclear Tuesday whether the charges also involved that animal. The incident report has not yet been entered into the computer system at the district attorney’s office and was unavailable Tuesday.

Madden lives three houses to the south of the Mitchells. They had given him permission to put a deer stand on their property.

While the case was under investigation last fall, the Mitchells plastered the area with fliers seeking information about who might have killed Dakota.

In December, Mitchell said, Madden came to his house to let him know he’d just shot and killed a stray dog on the road in front of Mitchell’s house. At that time, Madden reportedly denied to Mitchell that he had shot his cat.

Mitchell said he feels guilty about the dog getting shot because just that morning he’d been trying to lure the animal, which was wearing a collar, into his garage.

Mitchell called Georgia to tell him what Madden had said. The warden asked Mitchell to bring the dog to his house and keep it until Georgia could get there.

“It was awful. The dog wasn’t in as bad a shape as he looked from far away,” Mitchell said. “He’d shot it right in the heart.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday whether the dog shooting led to the recent charges against Madden.

Mitchell said he just wants to make sure justice is served in the death of Dakota, the cat, which left his wife crying for days.

“My wife cried and cried and cried … it just broke her heart,”

Since Dakota was killed, Shirley Mitchell’s daughter has found her another cat.

This also has helped Tyler, Michael Mitchell’s 13-year-old sheltie, cope with the loss.

“He’s a herder,” Mitchell said. “He’s always had a cat to help get in every evening and got depressed. He has to have a job, and his job was taking care of that cat.”

adolloff@bangordailynews.net

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