Tessmer Auto Sales & Scv Llc

Mike Tessmer Abuses dog to death, traumatizes kids. Man who kicked dog to death gets work release jail By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel jsonline.mobi/more/news/crime/121531999.htm May 9, 2011 Waukesha - A 54-year-old Town of Oconomowoc man was sentenced Monday to 12 months in the county's work release jail for the 2009 death of his dog, which he repeatedly kicked while his children watched, and was placed on probation for three years for causing mental harm to a child.

Many believed Michael H. Tessmer should have been sent to prison for such a deed, including Assistant District Attorney Michele W. Hulgaard.

Hulgaard had asked Waukesha County Circuit Judge Kathleen B. Stilling to put Tessmer in prison for four years for causing mental harm to the children and place him on extended supervision for a total of eight years when released, including three years for the death of the dog.

"A dad is there to make their children feel protected. These children felt anything but protected when they saw what he had done to their animal," Hulgaard said.

But Stilling said that while what Tessmer did to his dog and children was terrible, sending him to prison would be even worse for his son and daughter.

"I really feel that doing that would harm them financially, emotionally," said Stilling, who consulted with a court-appointed advocate for the children during the sentencing hearing.

"Would those children really be hurt by your being removed from them and having to visit you in prison? . . .  I ultimately have concluded that that would be more harmful to them," Stilling told Tessmer before she announced her sentence.

Tessmer, who owns Tessmer Auto Sales in Waukesha, was convicted by a jury in March of two felonies - causing mental harm to a child and mistreatment of animals, causing death in connection with the incident on Feb. 28, 2009.

He was accused of kicking Zorro, a 3-year-old black labradoodle, 10 times after it defecated and urinated in the house while he and his children were out, according to trial testimony and the criminal complaint.

Tessmer's then 11-year-old son and then 7-year-old daughter saw their father repeatedly kick Zorro, and the animal died the next day.

The dog's death came to authorities' attention after the boy wrote on an afterschool child care program sheet that "My dad is a killer."

Evidence showed the dog died from massive bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma.

During the trial and again at Monday's sentencing hearing, Hulgaard said the boy suffered from anxiety, depression and withdrawal after Zorro's death. He had nightmares and flashbacks of the incident and could not sleep alone at night in the months after Zorro died, she said Monday.

At the trial, Tessmer testified he never intended to kill the dog. He testified he kicked the dog only two or three times and did not intend to cause it excessive pain and suffering.

Tessmer's attorney, Daniel Fay, asked the judge to sentence Tessmer to 60 days in jail. He said that Tessmer always accepted responsibility for what he did. But he also argued that Tessmer should have been charged with only a misdemeanor in connection with the dog's death. Had that occurred, Fay said Tessmer would have pleaded guilty, and there would have been no need for a trial in the case.

Stilling withheld the sentence on the mental health charge conviction. It carries a 7 1/2 year prison term and opted for probation instead. However, if Tessmer fails to meet the terms of his probation, he could be sent to prison.

Before he was sentenced, Tessmer apologized. "I'm sorry for putting my kids through this. I never thought it would come to this. I'm sorry to my family. And I accept responsibility for what I've done. I don't want to be taken away from my kids. I don't think the kids want to be taken away from me. I do everything in my power to protect and take care of those kids," Tessmer said. "What I did was not right. I'm ashamed of it."…