The bodies of four cats were found along a road near a cemetery early last week — the same day that a proposal to allow shooting feral cats went before statewide hearings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.

"We think he was either captured and taken to that area and shot, or more likely he was shot and then taken to that area and dumped," he said.

Sgt. Doug Tuttle of the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department said the four cats likely were killed by a .22-caliber gun. Authorities are looking for anyone involved.

About 57 percent of Wisconsin hunters who attended Conservation Congress meetings Monday supported a proposal to classify wild, free-roaming cats as an unprotected species.

For the proposal to become law, it would have to be approved by the Natural Resources Board, state Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle, but Doyle has said he would reject it.