UPDATE: Judge Nixes Probation Plan For Man Charged In Dog Deaths

RIDGEFIELD, CT — A New York hunter charged in connection with the death of two Ridgefield pet dogs has been denied a pretrial diversionary program

A Danbury judge refused Michael Konschak's request for an accelerated rehabilitation that would have seen the charges against him dropped.

Konschak, 62, of Carmel, NY, had been charged with two counts of archery hunting deer (private land)/failing to have written consent from the landowner, two counts of tampering with evidence, forgery, interfering with an officer, and two counts of violating wild game hunting regulations (behavior and actions of hunters — domestic animals), according to court records unsealed on Wednesday.

Erin Caviola had accused Konschak of killing family pets, German shepherds Cimo and Lieben, and later skinning and beheading them.

The dogs went missing on Nov. 18.

"We have a completely fenced in property, six foot fence with electric gates, and let them out just like any other morning to go to the bathroom.," she told Patch. "While my husband was making coffee he saw them run past the kitchen window, and by the time he got out to the back, they were already gone."

Caviola said a bear had ripped part of their fence down, freeing the dogs.

For the next several weeks, friends, neighbors and law enforcement searched for Cimo and Lieben. The Caviolas blanketed the community with flyers and posters, as they put the rest of their lives on hold looking for their dogs.

"Any call that came in, any sighting, we dropped what we were doing and ran to wherever it was. We had some that came as far away as Upstate New York, we had a friend go look at them. Each time, it was not our dogs," Caviola said.

The breakthrough came on Dec. 11. Dogs managed by a tracker retained by the family traced the scents of Cimo and Lieben to woods bordering the family's property off Topcrest Lane. Caviola posted that news to social media, and the next day she said she received an anonymous tip.

The tipster said the dogs were brought to a taxidermist.

"The taxidermist told my contract that the dogs were, in fact, dogs, and that he wouldn't take them," Caviola said. "Konschak proceeded to skin them and behead them, and then tried to get their skins tanned." The hunter contacted at least one more taxidermist for the tanning work, but was turned away, as the skins were clearly those of domestic pets, according to Caviola.

The tipster shared Konschak's contact information with Caviola, who turned it over to Ridgefield law enforcement. The case is now being overseen by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection who arrested the hunter.

By Wednesday morning, over 60,000 people had signed an online petition asking that animal cruelty be added to the charges against Konschak, who is scheduled back in Danbury Superior Court to answer the charges on Apr. 12

The way the Ridgefield community has rallied around their efforts has been the one light in an otherwise very dark three and a half months for the Caviola family.

"The most uplifting thing throughout this was how great everybody has been, how they have come together for us," Erin Caviola said.