"The State of Wisconsin recognized the importance of having a public informed about governmental affairs.  The state's open meetings law declares that:


In recognition of the fact that a representative government of the American type is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the policy of this state that the public is entitled to the fullest and most complete regarding the affairs of government as is compatible with the conduct of governmental business."


The above two paragraphs are taken directly from the Compliance Guide for the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law that was written in August 2010.  How does it affect animal advocacy? What does it mean for you, a concerned citizen that is speaking out for animals in your Wisconsin community?  

Here are a few highlights and then please follow the link above for the full guide.

• Every meeting that is held by a governmental body must abide by the Open Meeting Law. There are clear definitions of a "governmental body" in the guide. For instance, Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission is clearly a governmental body. 
• Telephone conference calls are included under the Open Meetings Law.  To comply, the governmental body conducting a meeting by telephone conference call must provide the public with an effective means to monitor the conference. 
• Giving advance public notice of each meeting is a basic requirement of the Open Meetings Law. This notice must be published in the designated newspaper and include the time, date, and subject matter of the meeting.
• The public should be given notice 24 hours in advance of the meeting. 
• All business must be conducted in an open session, unless an exemption to the open session requirement applies (personnel, employment and compensation matters are exempt)
• The location of the meeting should be reasonably accessible to the public and in a room that is large enough to accommodate all citizens who wish to attend the meetings.
• The Attorney General and the district attorneys have authority to enforce the Open Meetings Law. A formal complaint must be filed.
• Any member of a governmental body who "knowingly" attends a meeting held in violation of the Open Meetings Law, or otherwise violates the law is subject to financial penalties ranging from $25 to $300 for each violation.

This is just a brief overview of the Compliance Guide. Please refer to it for more detailed information.

Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control (MADACC) has killed 4655 animals this year through October 31, 2012. (This does not include those that died in their kennel, were dead on arrival, or were owner-requested euthanasia). 
Six birds, 3078 cats, 1519 dogs, and 52 other animals died at MADACC.  The charts below show comparisons from last year to this year and also the breakdown of the October statistics.  As you can see, in October alone, MADACC killed 517 animals. Summer months are generally the busiest months for animal control, intake numbers usually decrease in the fall. 

Some improvement has been shown over last October but other cities in America are doing much better while Milwaukee is lagging behind.  Cities such as Reno, Austin, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, Missouri are improving their animal control programs and saving lives. 

The key to solving the problem is knowing that there is a problem. If you did not know that MADACC had such a high death rate for animals in Milwaukee County please share this blog post with your friends and neighbors.   If you are a resident of Milwaukee County please contact your local alderman to express your displeasure. Milwaukee County animal control is funded by your tax dollars. 

n 2011, MADACC took in 12,719 animals. Fifty two percent of those did not make it out alive. Click this link to view the 2011 statistics on Madacc's website. 

Do you ever wonder which shelters and rescue groups help the most by transferring animals out of MADACC and making them available for adoption? Here are the year to date through October 2012 transfer numbers.  You can also compare to the transfer numbers from 2011.  As you can see, transfers are down compared to the same period last year, but up overall. Most improved is the number of cats transferred out.

We will be trying to post statistics regularly here on our website and helping you make sense of what they mean. Transparency is key to making change for our companion animals. We must know what the problem is if we are going to try to solve it.

This past Halloween was more than a day for neighborhood children to collect as much candy as possible while trick-or-treating.  This past Halloween was also the day when sweeping changes to Massachusetts’ animal-related law went into effect.  And this past Halloween may have been the day that Massachusetts’ new law became the precedent that other states choose to emulate when redrafting their own animal control laws.

The state’s new animal control law annuls laws that exist at lower government or local levels that were drafted to address a specific breed of dog rather than dogs in general.  For instance, if a town had a law that prevented its residents from owning a certain type of dog such as a pit bull, Massachusetts’ new statewide law now prevents the local ban from being enforced.  Massachusetts’ current law addresses the actions of dogs and their owners the same no matter what kind of dog is involved in a given incident, meaning the owners of certain breeds of dogs can no longer be discriminated against in the eyes of Massachusetts’ law.

Massachusetts’ new law also made Massachusetts the 23rd state in the country to allow restraining orders issued to protect humans from abuse to protect their pets as well.  Hopefully, this meaningful change will prevent abuse victims from staying in an abusive environment to protect their pets and keep a victim’s animals safe from the person’s abuser.

In addition to assigning the responsibility for consistent animal-related laws to the state, Massachusetts’ new law makes it mandatory for every person who is an animal control officer to receive training that relates directly to his or her job, too.  As part of their training, animal control officers will learn how to enforce dog licensing requirements which may have the added benefit of generating additional revenue for various municipalities throughout the state.

Finally, Massachusetts’ new law includes a provision to create a broad-based program designed to convince pet owners throughout the state to spay or neuter their pets.

Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control (MADACC) has killed 4138 animals this year through September 30, 2012. (This does not include those that died in their kennel, were dead on arrival, or were owner-requested euthanasia). 
Six birds, 2699 cats, 1383 dogs, and 50 other animals died at MADACC.  The charts below show comparisons from last year to this year and also the breakdown of the September statistics.  As you can see, in September alone, MADACC killed 621 animals.

Since MADACC is funded entirely by tax payer money they should be transparent in their operations. These figures SHOULD be posted on their website in a timely manner after they are approved at a board meeting. But they are not. They figures were obtained by making an Open Records Request to the interim director of MADACC. 

The charts below show comparisons from last year to this year and also the breakdown of the September statistics.  

Some improvement has been shown over last September but other cities in America are doing much better while Milwaukee is lagging behind.  Cities such as Reno, Austin, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, Missouri are improving their animal control programs and saving lives. 

The key to solving the problem is knowing that there is a problem. If you did not know that MADACC had such a high death rate for animals in Milwaukee County please share this blog post with your friends and neighbors.   If you are a resident of Milwaukee County please contact your local alderman to express your displeasure. Milwaukee County animal control is funded by your tax dollars. 

In 2011, MADACC took in 12,719 animals. Fifty two percent of those did not make it out alive. Click this link to view the 2011 statistics on Madacc's website. 

Do you ever wonder which shelters and rescue groups help the most by transferring animals out of MADACC and making them available for adoption? Here are the year to date transfer numbers.  You can also compare to the transfer numbers from 2011.  

We will be trying to post statistics regularly here on our website and helping you make sense of what they mean. Transparency is key to making change for our companion animals. We must know what the problem is if we are going to try to solve it.