(a) Neglected or Abandoned Animals.
(1) No person may abandon any animal.
(2) Any law enforcement or animal control officer may remove, shelter and care for an animal found to be cruelly exposed to the weather, starved or denied adequate water, neglected, abandoned or otherwise treated in a cruel manner and may deliver such animal to another person to be sheltered, cared for and given medical attention, if necessary. In all cases the owner, if known, shall be immediately notified and such officer, or other person, having possession of the animal shall have a lien thereon for its care, keeping and medical attention and the expense of notice.
(3) If the owner or custodian is unknown and cannot, with reasonable effort, be ascertained or does not, within five (5) days after notice, redeem the animal by paying the expenses incurred, it may be treated as a stray and dealt with as such.
(4) Whenever, in the opinion of any such officer, an animal is hopelessly injured or diseased so as to be beyond the probability of recovery, it shall be lawful for such officer to kill such animal and the owner thereof shall not recover damages for the killing of such animal unless he shall prove that such killing was unwarranted.
(5) Section 951.16, Investigation of Cruelty Complaints, and Sec. 951.17, Wis. Stats., Expenses of Investigation, are hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this Chapter.
(b) Injured Animals. No person who owns, harbors or keeps any animal shall fail to provide proper medical attention to such animal when and if such animal becomes sick or injured.
In the event the owner of such animal cannot be located, the Village or any animal control agency with whom the Village has an agreement or contract shall have the authority to take custody of such animal for the purpose of providing medical treatment, and the owner thereof shall reimburse the person or organization for the costs of such treatment.
(c) Vehicle Accidents. The operator of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any domestic animal shall stop such vehicle at the scene of the accident, or as close thereto as possible, and, if possible to do so safely, remove the animal to the side of the roadway and notify the Police Department.
State Law Reference: Secs. 951.15, 951.16 and 951.17, Wis. Stats.