A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 29th for Senate bill 191.  Click here for the background on this bill.  Please try to attend and as you enter the room, sign in and register "for" the bill.  You don't need to speak but a good show of support will help get Leo's Bill passed! 

Representative Spiros (R-Marshfield) introduced Assembly Bill 230, called "Leo's Bill"  this session.  Current Wisconsin law states that any animal, over one year of age, suspected of being involved in dog fighting must be put down.  These dogs become double victims.  They're victims of the cruelty they endured and they're victims of the system that will ultimately fail them. 

Rep. Spiro's proposed legislation will change the law to allow animals to be adopted and rehabilitated if they do not pose a threat to humans or other animals.

"There are many examples of dogs who have been successfully rehabilitated, who have gone on to become loving pets and assets to their communities by becoming therapy dogs.  This bill is not allowing dangerous animals to be released - but rather those who have shown they are no threat.  It is allowing the best to be made out of a terrible situation,"  said Rep. Spiros.

Leo's Bill was named after one of the 51 dogs rescued from the Michael Vick dog fighting operation.  Leo was taken into Our Pack, Inc. a pit bull rescue in California where  he was rehabilitated and became a certified therapy dog. He was adopted by Our Pack, Inc. director, Marthina McClay, CPDT_KA.  Leo and Marthina frequently visited hospitals, nursing homes and schools for troubled youth.  

A public hearing was held for the Assembly version of Leo's Bill with no opposition being expressed. The bill has bipartisan support.

Senator Julie Lassa (D)  and Senator Fred Risser (D) have introduced the Senate companion, SB191. Senator Carpenter (D) has also been added on as a coauthor. 

The Senate bill has been read the first time and referred to the Judiciary and Labor Committee, chaired by Senator Grothman (R).  However, it hasn't been put on the schedule to be heard in committee yet.  This needs to be done for the bill to advance.

We need YOUR help to contact Senator Grothman and politely ask him to make this bill a priority. Please email him as soon as possible at [email protected].

Wisconsin dogs are counting on you to help them!

Even in non-election years, we, as voters, have the right to let our elected officials know how we feel about an issue and try to influence their votes regarding it.  And as pet lovers, now is the time for us to exercise that right.

On March 8th, Wisconsin state senator, Tim Carpenter, put bill, LRB 1643/1, before his colleagues and asked them to co-sponsor the legislation.  LRB 1643/1 was drafted to make significant and meaningful changes to Wisconsin’s laws regarding animals seized by a city, county, town, or village.

The deadline for state legislators to express their support for this potentially “game-changing” bill is 12pm on Friday, March 22, 2013, which is a mere two weeks away from the date this post was published.  So, as voters and animal lovers, we must make the most of this limited window by contacting our respective state representatives and senators to ask them to support LRB 1643/1…and by asking everyone we know to do the same.

If you are unsure about who your district’s current state senator or representative is, you can easily research your legislator’s name by clicking here.  When you contact your state legislator, make sure you tell the individual you want him or her to support LRB 1643/1 and remember to share your name.

Among the significant changes LRS 1643/1 is drafted to achieve are shortening the length of time animals seized under Chapter 173 or Chapter 951 are held in captivity by a city, county, town, or village and enabling courts to require owners to reimburse the entity that seized their pets to pay for costs incurred by the authoritative body to house and care for their pets after they were seized.

To learn more about why you and each of our state’s legislators should sponsor LRB 1643/1 as well as the exact changes the bill purports to make to Wisconsin’s laws, click here.

Because politicians respond more readily to the individual constituents who live in their districts than they do to inquiries from organizations, we need your help.  We want to ask a few questions of the candidates who are running to be one of this state’s 99 assemblymen or 33 senators and publish their responses so they can be held accountable for the votes they cast while in office. 

Put simply, we are asking that you send an email, a Facebook message, or an old-fashioned letter to the people who are running to represent your district in Wisconsin’s House of Representatives or Senate and ask them the following two questions:

1.        If you had to vote on legislation that attempted to undermine Act 90, otherwise known as the Puppy Mill Bill, would you oppose or support it, and why?

2.       Would you support or oppose stricter anti-cruelty laws to better protect the companion animals in this state, and why?

Why are these two questions so important?  Well, opponents of Act 90 tried to amend the bill twice last year before it’s ink was barely dry and we anticipate that the bill will face additional challenges in the upcoming legislative session.  And we are hopeful that tougher anti-cruelty legislation will be put before our state legislators after the upcoming elections are decided.

Please help us by posing the above questions to your district’s political candidates and sharing their responses with us.  We guarantee you will remain anonymous if we publish the responses you receive from your local candidates.

Thank you for helping us to help Wisconsin’s beloved companion animals.

Letter to the Editor:

Our animals need your help now! Monday, Aug.6th please attend the city council meeting and express your support for the Dunn County Humane Society's Mission.

I understand that the humane society is ready to begin their much needed addition and that they will be requesting adjacent land promised to DCHS years ago. Now however some city council members along with the city administrator are rethinking this promise.

They believe that the shelter should euthanize animals to make space. From its beginning, the shelter's mission statement has always been " We will not sacrifice the life of one animal to make room for another."
We do everything possible to transfer out cats and dogs, reunite them with their owners, and advertise for lifetime homes. Why would Menomonie want the animal shelter to be known as 'just another' kill shelter when our adoption rates are so high? In 2010, 234 stray animals came to the shelter just from the city of Menomonie. In 2011 the number of strays rose to 343. The Humane society had over 800 animals come through their doors last year, which means that close to HALF of the animals are coming right from Menomonie!

Council members have also indicated there have been noise complaints from one neighbor. Complaints that are now first being made after 15 years of the shelter being located where it presently is.

The City of Menomonie sends more animals to the shelter than any of the Townships. It would seem to me that it is in the 'best interest' of Menomonie to have the shelter located right in our city. Does our police department really want to transport stray animals to another town in Dunn County should the City of Menomonie not deed over the adjacent land to DCHS? 

I volunteer at the shelter and love having the shelter located in Menomonie.
Please keep the doors of the shelter right where it is, and open to all animals in need of help.

Barb Gort


Additional Information: You can also show your support for the shelter by calling the mayor  or the

City Administrator;  and your city council representative.