A Cause for PAWS secures Wisconsin Humane Society contracts

KEWAUNEE COUNTY – A Cause for PAWS, an animal advocacy group and nonprofit for Kewaunee County, has established contracts between the City of Kewaunee, Village of Luxemburg and Town of Casco with the Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS), allowing stray animals to be brought to the Brown or Door County Humane Societies without the risk of being turned away.

On Feb. 3, the organization facilitated a one-year contract between the WHS and the city of Algoma, which approved the motion unanimously. Nearly five months later, A Cause for PAWS has managed to secure three more contracts so the humane society is contractually obligated to take area animals in as strays.

Prior to these contracts, animals from Kewaunee County which were brought to area human societies could be turned away due to not having a contract. Now that these municipalities are working with the Wisconsin Humane Society, the strays of Kewaunee County can be reliably taken off the streets.

In addition to guaranteeing stray animals will have a place at area humane societies, these contracts also mean local police departments will assist in trapping and handling strays.

“If a citizen comes upon an unsheltered animal, cat or dog, in Algoma, and they don’t have the means to trap that animal or to transport that animal to the Wisconsin Humane Society, that citizen can call the Algoma Police Department, the police will bring a trap out there. Once the animal is in the trap, they’ll bring it to the holding area. They’ll call the volunteer transport team and one of the volunteers will go and get that animal and bring it to the Wisconsin Humane Society, either in Brown or Door County,” Jacobs said.

A Cause for PAWS also works with Cats Anonymous, a trap, neuter, vaccinate and release program centered in Green Bay. While the goal is to reduce the stray animal population, Jacobs and her team understand that some feral animals cannot adjust to indoor living. Working with Cats Anonymous allows them to reduce the number of future kittens, which would sustain the population of stray cats.

The Wisconsin Humane Society offers a barn cat program which A Cause for PAWS has adopted, where feral cats that have been trapped, neutered and vaccinated can be taken in by farmers, who are then responsible for providing food, water, shelter and veterinary care, but still allow them to live mostly outdoors.

Jacobs stressed the importance of releasing feral cats into the same area they were trapped in. Stray cats form colonies with established roles and hierarchies, and animals dropped in another colony’s territory may be left to starve or even attacked.

The Wisconsin Humane Society provides a generic contract for interested municipalities, and from there A Cause for PAWS worked with each community and their lawyers to establish a contract everyone felt best addressed the needs of stray animals and the community.

Securing those contracts wasn’t free, but the members of A Cause for PAWS feel the issue is too urgent to leave unaddressed while cost is negotiated.

“We pay for those contracts,” Jacobs said. “This is not coming out of the taxpayers’ money, and the reason we’re doing that is because we really think this is important and a culture change is going to take time.”

Each municipality has its own holding area for animals, with specific safety measures in place. The police transfer animals into kennels or carriers, and volunteers load them into their vehicles for transport. Volunteers do not have direct contact with the animals to minimize the risk of disease transmission and injury. The group ensures that holding areas are clean and safe, with special cleaning products used after each animal.

The Bank of Luxemburg is currently running a fundraising event accepting cat and dog food at any of their locations to be donated to the Kewaunee County Food Pantry.

“The community of involvement has been outstanding,” Jacobs said. “There’s so many people who are so thankful they have a place to bring the animals now.”

The Lakeshore Area Vintage Snowmobile Association is also hosting an event in Kewaunee on Saturday, July 12, with proceeds donated to a Cause for PAWS.

Jacobs said going forward, the nonprofit will continue to work on public education regarding stray animals.

“We have someone from Cats Anonymous, we are in the process of getting a representative from the Wisconsin Humane Society, along with Chief David Allen of Algoma and we would like to have a public forum where we can educate the public, because it’s going to take a community to do this,” she said. “We want the community asking questions and getting the answers so they feel comfortable helping to decrease the population of the stray animals in Kewaunee County.”

While A Cause for PAWS is not an animal rescue itself, they are seeking volunteers for their stray animal transport teams. Anyone interested in volunteering can reach out via their Facebook page, A Cause for PAWS Kewaunee County.