The Wisconsin Federated Humane Society, Inc. is the only state-wide organization that represents humane societies in Wisconsin.  The organization is governed by a Board of Directors.  All Directors serve without compensation.

Mission Statement

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. provides education, training, information, support and networking opportunities for organizations, agencies and individuals dedicated to promoting and advancing humane care, treatment and respect of all animals.

• Promote leadership development opportunities.
• Enhance shelter management skills.
• Expand cruelty prevention initiatives.
• Increase the WFHS’s organizational capacity.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is opposed to any contest between animals or between humans and animals. Such activities unnecessarily expose both people and animals to stress, pain, injury or death. The WFHS believes that blood sports encourage insensitivity and acceptance of the brutal treatment of animals for entertainment and profit. Further, WFHS supports legislation, which prohibits and penalizes blood events, including but not limited to the following activities: bullfighting, cockfighting, coon on a log, coon in a hole and dog fighting.

• licensing programs that would promote spay/neuter
• proper identification
• rabies vaccinations on a designated schedule
• stray cats being held a minimum of 7 days
• guardians who will be responsible for injury or damage caused by their cat

Containment systems for cats and dogs are designed to confine animals to specific areas without the use of visible barriers. They operate by automatically delivering electrical stimulation as a deterrent to roaming outside of predetermined boundaries. Systems of this type should be used with great caution. They all need to be evaluated to make sure that aggression, extreme fear and general behavior suppression and pain are not exhibited by the animal. They do not prevent people or other animals from entering the confinement area, as in the case of animals maintained on a tether.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is aware that lack of appropriate housing opportunities that include companion animals may force people to give up their beloved companion animal/s. WFHS supports public practices and policies that encourage landlords to allow animals to reside in rental properties. By promoting responsible companion animal guardianship and limiting restrictions on companion animals in housing to cases in which a valid nuisance or proven violation of ordinances or sanitation codes exist, arbitrary and unnecessary exclusions will be eliminated.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. opposes cosmetic surgery that is performed solely for the purpose of guardian convenience or alteration of the animal’s appearance, with no benefit to the animal. Such procedures include tail docking, ear cropping in dogs, tail myotomy in horses, if performed for non-medical reasons.

WFHS opposes unnecessary surgical procedures that are painful, distressful, or restrictive to the animal’s function, as in the case of declawing cats. WFHS does not recommend that cats be declawed as a routine procedure, but only as a last resort when other methods of preserving animal or human safety have been tried and have failed.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. (WFHS) is an impartial organization that does not endorse commercial products, services or facilities in any manner that could be construed as sanctioning or approving the product, service or facility for promotional purposes. WFHS lacks the resources for ongoing testing/monitoring that would be essential to a “stamp of approval.”

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. believes that the sale of baby rabbits, chicks, ducklings, goslings and all other living animals that are sold as holiday novelties when they are babies with the intent to discard prior to reaching adulthood should be halted. In addition, it is cruel to promote many of these animals as appropriate companion animals. Many of them die as a result of neglect, ignorance, or mishandling. The animals often end up at shelters or abandoned. WFHS opposes this practice because it promotes insensitivity toward animals and teaches children and adults both to devalue them. Education, policies, practices and legislation that result in ending animal exploitation should all be actively pursued.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. (WFHS) recognizes that for a variety of complex conditions that exist in our society and for merciful reasons, animal euthanasia is necessary. While humane societies make every effort to place suitable animals in quality adoptive homes, animal adoption may not always be a realistic option. For some animals, euthanasia may be the only humane alternative.

WFHS believes that only a veterinarian or certified euthanasia technician should perform euthanasia using prescribed and approved injectable drugs and techniques. WFHS supports legislation that requires the certification of persons administering euthanasia.

Feral cats are the offspring of owned or abandoned outdoor, intact cats. They must be trapped or sedated to be examined, they are too poorly socialized to be handled and as a result are unadoptable by current standards. In an effort to eliminate community concerns about both the suffering of the free-roaming cats and their impact on the environment, to eliminate inconvenience to citizens and to protect public health and safety, common practice in many cities has been to trap and euthanize feral cats.

However, many believe that such practices have not been successful in eliminating the problem. And, that in fact, research has demonstrated that when cats are captured and killed, other cats quickly repopulate their area or colony. For that reason, some communities have started to engage in programs to trap, vaccinate, test, sterilize and release the animals within their existing colony. Many believe that although the program may not end the difficult conditions under which these animals live, under the supervision of responsible care givers, trap and release programs decrease the suffering of feral cats and have the following additional advantages:

• Puts an end to the breeding of more unwanted cats;
• Ends or decreases annoying feline mating behaviors such as spraying, fighting, and yowling;
• Prevents migration of new animals into the area;
• Controls the spread of disease like feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus;
• Provides opportunity to vaccinate animals against rabies and other diseases;
• Provides an opportunity to return “owned” cats running at large to their homes, and
• Decreases the risk of certain types of cancer for cats in a colony.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. opposes the practice of contests, raffles and other forms of companion animal giveaways or lotteries to promote sales by attracting chance or impulse acquisition of companion animals. Giveaways that result in animals being distributed with no knowledge or control of the persons who will receive them or how and where they will be cared for or treated is inappropriate.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. promotes companion animal identification that enables guardians to be reunited with their companion animals in the fastest and most efficient manner. This would prevent illness, injury and stress to both people and animals. An efficient identification system could shorten the time animals spend in holding facilities, thus enhancing public health and safety and minimizing cost to the community.

Licensing of dogs and cats is one such method. A significant difference in the license fee between altered and unaltered companion animals can be used to promote and encourage spay/neuter and in turn, diminish the animal population in shelters and animal control facilities.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. supports micro-chipping identification systems for all companion animals, which ultimately lead to reuniting lost animals with their guardians. Standardization of the identification technology and cooperation among the animal serving community is beneficial to animals and the community that will realize greater safety and efficient animal control.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. opposes laws that ban individual breeds because they are both unfair and ineffective. Rather than breed specific laws or ordinances, animal control laws should be enforced that punish irresponsible guardians—people who purposefully encourage or train an animal to be aggressive or through neglectful practices, allow a dog that is dangerous to harm people or property. WFHS believes dog guardians must be held fully accountable for any harm or damage that their companion animals do to people, property and other animals.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is aware that the overpopulation of companion animals has created an imbalance between the numbers of homeless animals and responsible individuals willing to adopt them. This situation has resulted in the suffering and destruction of thousands of animals each year in Wisconsin.

WFHS believes that the sterilization of companion dogs, cats and rabbits, the development of humane community policies, effective animal control and enforcement and community education are all vital to end overpopulation of companion animals.

Pound seizure, the practice of surrendering animals from public and private shelters to biomedical research laboratories, training institutes, pharmaceutical houses or other organizations that use animals for experimental, teaching or testing purposes, breaks the link of trust between companion animal guardians, the public, and animal shelters. A breach of trust between a humane organization or shelter and the public could result in animals being abandoned in a manner that would endanger them or the public.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is opposed to pound seizure or any measure that results in pain, suffering or injury being inflicted upon a companion animal, including activities that would jeopardize the physical or psychological well-being of animals.

The urgency to sterilize all animals before they can contribute to our society’s already overpopulated animal community has resulted in advanced spay/neuter procedures, including prepubescent sterilization procedures. Because research continues to indicate that there is no negative physical or behavioral impact on animals in which prepubescent spay/neuter procedures have been performed, Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. endorses the use of the procedure to end animal suffering.

Because of the potential for animal suffering, Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. opposes the mass breeding of companion animals for the commercial companion animal market. These mass breeding operations, commonly known as puppy mills, add to the existing companion animal overpopulation problem in many communities. Excessive and indiscriminate breeding with no regard for genetics often causes health and temperament problems. Exposure to extreme weather conditions, lack of adequate veterinary care and filthy housing are common problems. In addition, isolation and lack of human contact often result in animals that are not properly socialized.

WFHS supports law enforcement, legislative and educational efforts to eliminate puppy mills and other mass breeding operations.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. endorses legislation mandating the pre-exposure rabies vaccination of all companion animals and maintains that such legislation is an essential component of operative animal control programs. Furthermore, WFHS believes preventive vaccinations to be a fundamental element of responsible companion animal guardianship.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is opposed to any contest between animals or between humans and animals, as animals and humans are exposed to stress, pain, injury or death. WFHS believes that rodeos encourage insensitivity and acceptance of the brutal treatment of animals in the name of profit and entertainment.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. is opposed to the sale of the following in pet stores: companion animals of any age purchased directly or via a wholesaler from mass breeding establishments or puppy mills, wild-caught birds, wild indigenous or exotic animals and pieces of reef that were collected live.

WFHS commends the efforts of pet stores who work with humane organizations and breed placement groups by featuring in-store advertising of adoptable animals, including satellite adoption programs, photo boards, videos, etc.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. recognizes sanctioned cat and dog shows when staged under the authority of a major cat or dog registry, kennel club, training school or humane organization.

Conformation, obedience, agility, fly ball, field trials, lure coursing, tracking and frisbee competitions are legitimate sporting events. However, WFHS supports only shows or trials where humane treatment is used in showing, training and transporting dogs or cats.

WFHS does not support any activities that pit animals against each other in a combat mode or where conditions or treatment is inhumane.

Because of the tragic overpopulation of companion animals that has resulted in significant animal suffering, many healthy or treatable, sociable animals are unwanted by the society that has allowed them to be born.

The single most effective tool to end the suffering caused by overpopulation is to spay or neuter companion animals. Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. supports the efforts of animal welfare organizations and veterinarians that provide spay/neuter education and opportunities.

Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. opposes the use of tranquilizer guns in routine animal control work as there are too many variables as to the animal’s age, weight and physical conditions when estimating dosages. WFHS believes that in most cases, wild or stray animals may be captured with more conventional equipment that do not jeopardize the safety of the animal or the public. However, WFHS recognizes that tranquilizer guns are suited to use by experts and in circumstances that would otherwise result in great harm to the animal.

• The animal’s guardian and/or another designated person must accept responsibility for insuring that the animal’s medical, physical, behavioral, and psychological needs are met.
• Selection of assistance animals must be based on a sound knowledge of their specific physical, behavioral and psychological characteristics. The animal must be able to carry out desired tasks without invasive physical manipulation, such as teeth pulling, debarking, etc. Sterilization is highly recommended.
• Programs that provide temporary housing and care for assistance animals must ensure that the needs of the animals are being properly met.
• Training of animals to perform tasks for their new guardians must be based on positive reinforcement rather that on physical punishment such as striking, choking or electric shock.
• The program must take responsibility for placement of animals that fail the program or are retired.

Keeping indigenous wild animals as pets is illegal in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies, Inc. believes that no animal taken from the wild should be kept as a companion animal. No animal that has not been genetically controlled over a very long period of time, should be captured, confined or deliberately bred as a companion animal. Many such animals suffer during capture, transport or confinement. In addition to promoting animal suffering, these animals can be a burden to animal control agencies and society when they are no longer wanted, their special needs are not being met or when they have become a danger to their caregivers and/or the general public.

This policy does not pertain to wild animals under the care of a trained and licensed rehabilitator responding to animals that are ill, injured or orphaned.