Reader question: I’m confused. Some people are telling me that the humane society of Green Bay euthanizes pets and there’s some people telling me the exact opposite. So do they euthanize animals or not?
Answer: “The Wisconsin Humane Society never euthanizes animals for reasons of space or time,” the agency states on its website’s “Frequently Asked Questions” section.
It’s a statement that was repeated by Tanya Ditzman, media specialist for the Wisconsin Humane Society’s Green Bay and Door County campuses. She added that “We give them as much time as they need to be adopted,” which is also reiterated on the website’s FAQ.
The Wisconsin Humane Society does, however, euthanize in extreme medical or behavioral circumstances after exhausting all other options, and, though rare, performs owner-requested euthanizations.
Most of Brown County’s localities are contracted with the Wisconsin Humane Society Green Bay campus to take in strays and dogs that the municipalities have deemed “dangerous” by ordinance, Ditzman told the Press-Gazette. It can’t decide to take in some animals and not others, Ditzman said. The campus staff conducts a behavioral and medical assessment of every animal that comes through its doors between 1 and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday or noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. Some require surgeries to remove an eye or therapy before being sent to the adoption floor.
“Mommy, I want to buy a dog,” a girl begged twice after coming out of the “Dogs and Puppies” door at the Green Bay campus, behind which the incessant barks sounded like all 532 dogs that the Wisconsin Humane Society took in this September across its six Wisconsin campuses were in that room.
“We try to make it the Ritz-Carlton for them in there, but we know they’d rather be with a family on the couch than with other barking dogs,” Ditzman said.
If the Green Bay campus doesn’t have the resources to care for the animal, they may be moved to another Wisconsin Humane Society campus that can accommodate, said a staff member not sanctioned to speak on behalf of the organization but whose comments were confirmed by Ditzman. To make space in the kennels, like in an instance Ditzman described over the summer when 42 animals were surrendered in one day, it may run “promotions” on dogs and cats to encourage adoption.
But in cases of abuse to the point where reintegration isn’t possible or prolonged physical harm that surgery can’t resolve, and where the Wisconsin Humane Society can’t meet it’s goal to re-home every animal, the organization considers euthanasia the “most humane decision,” according to its website and Ditzman.
“Some people don’t support it at all but what’s humane, though?” Ditzman said. “For an animal that’s too abused, how do you give him a humane, beautiful life?”
Compared to the 1,112 animals adopted across the Wisconsin Humane Society’s six campuses from Racine to Door County, Shelter Animals Count’s national database of pet statistics shows that the organization euthanized 210 in its shelters in September. A staff member noted that the campus limits the hours that it’s open to the public to four-hour windows from Tuesday to Friday and a five-hour window on Saturdays in order to provide the care its animals require.
Its “End of Life” services, as it’s listed on the Wisconsin Humane Society’s website, are consistent in policy, procedure, and cost as other unaffiliated Humane Societies from Colorado and Michigan.
Since January, the organization did not record any owner requests to euthanize an animal. This costs anywhere from $20 for small animals to be communally cremated to $265 for dogs over 50 pounds to be cremated and its ashes returned to the family.
Owner requests are rare for the Wisconsin Humane Society compared to the other services it provides — spays and neuters, rabies treatment, and therapy, among others — but are provided as needed.
Do you have a question about Green Bay? Send them to Jesse Lin at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com to look into and answer every Monday.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin Humane Society Green Bay performs few euthanizations
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