Cat’s Guardian Angel Given PETA Award for Pushing PD to Protect Stray Animals

For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A Compassionate Citizen Award is on its way from PETA to Michael Lynch, a De Pere resident whose perseverance not only helped reunite a lost cat with his human family, but also led the Kaukauna Police Department (KPD) to change its policies so as to better protect lost and stray animals in its jurisdiction.

After finding a lost cat—later identified as Walter—hanging about at his mother’s Kaukauna residence on October 26, Lynch contacted the KPD. An officer took custody of Walter and assured Lynch that the cat would be held at the police station and taken to the city’s contracted animal shelter the next day. Lynch posted the details on social media, and Walter’s guardian saw the post, but when she arrived at the shelter to claim Walter, he wasn’t there. Lynch and the guardian organized a search party, which spent hours scouring the area, looking for Walter in difficult terrain, eventually locating him in a field where he had apparently been dumped by the responding officer.

Following community pressure led by Lynch, the KPD issued a formal apology on November 3, announced that the officer had received “corrective action,” and instituted a new policy mandating that all animals taken into its custody be transported directly to the contracted animal shelter.

“Thanks to Michael Lynch, this cat is safe at home with his family, and the companion animal guardians in Kaukauna can rest a little easier knowing that their beloved cats and dogs won’t be left to fend for themselves if they go missing,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “Michael is an inspiring example of someone who refused to be silent when animals needed his help, and PETA urges everyone to follow his lead and to keep their cats safe by keeping them indoors.”

Lynch will receive a framed certificate along with delicious vegan chocolates from PETA.

PETA points out that cats allowed to roam outside often contract parasites and diseases and may be hit by cars, attacked by other animals, or hurt by cruel people. Anyone who finds a stray animal should take them to their local shelter or humane society so they can be scanned for a microchip and their guardian can be located, and PETA urges animal shelters to accept all animals in need.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.