Where I stand
Enforce Wisconsin's Anti-Cruelty Law
Wisconsin has a law against animal cruelty. Chapter 951 makes it a crime to cause an animal unnecessary and excessive pain or suffering. A judge found probable cause that exactly that was happening at Ridglan Farms, where surgeries were performed on dogs by untrained staff without anesthesia, and state inspectors documented 311 violations.
For years, the response from local law enforcement was, essentially, nothing. It took citizens, journalists, and finally a special prosecutor from another county to force any accountability at all. And even then, the facility was never charged. It settled, surrendered its license, and paid no fine.
Some point to the research exemption in the law and say nothing could be done. The record says otherwise. A facility truly beyond the law’s reach would not have needed to surrender its license to settle. The exemption is a shield with limits, and finding those limits is what investigation is for.
As Sheriff, I will:
- Treat animal-cruelty complaints as real complaints. They get investigated with the same seriousness as any other alleged crime.
- Refer strong cases for prosecution and give the District Attorney complete, professional investigative work to act on.
- Not wait for outsiders to do our job. It should never again take a special prosecutor from another county to address cruelty happening in ours.
- Enforce the law as written, including against facilities that assume their paperwork makes them untouchable.
The dogs at Ridglan had no vote and no voice. The law was supposed to be theirs. I will make sure it is.