Here is the information that I have. Please forward to the list, and to anyone else you feel may be able to help get this resolved.
Thank you so much!
To Whom it May Concern,
Following is what information I have regarding the recent killing of
five rottweiler puppies at the Monroe County
Animal Shelter in Sparta, Wisconsin.
I am sorry that I did not get this information out sooner - it has
taken a while to gather these names and phone numbers. Please let me know if there is anything else I can provide that might be helpful.
The "Humane" officer in question is Clifford Kremmer. He is a county
employee.
The Assistant Humane Office who discovered the dead puppies and who
took what action she could (they are really pressuring her to keep quiet - she is fearful at this time of losing her job) is Paulette Hansen.
Clifford Kremmer normally works the shelter Monday through Friday.
Paulette Hanson works weekends, holidays, and anytime Mr. Kremmer takes a vacation or isn't able to work. Both are licensed by the state.
This is what happened to the best of my knowledge....
On Monday, February 25th, a female rottweiler came in to the county
impound in Sparta as a stray. On Wednesday, February 27th, I went to the impound to pick up dogs to deliver to rescue. Mr. Kremmer asked me if I knew anyone who would take a rottweiler as he had taken in a female. I told him that I would contact rescue, then went outside to look at her. She appeared to be pregnant. I did not mention this to Mr. Kremmer, as I was afraid that he would euthanize the dog as soon as he was able if he knew this.
Paulette Hanson did not work at the shelter the weekend of March 2-3, as she had arranged to take that weekend off. She worked the week of March 4-8 for Mr. Kremmer as he was ill.
On Monday, March 4th, Ms. Hanson went to work at the impound. While
cleaning runs, she noticed a bit of what appeared to be blood in the rottweiler female's run. She noticed that the dog appeared to be restless, and thought that she looked like she could be pregnant or had recently had puppies.
On Tuesday, March 5th, Ms. Hanson went to work at the impound and
noticed a more significant amount of blood in the rottweiler female's run. She called and made arrangements to take the dog to the Sparta Vet Clinic (the county contracts with this clinic for vet work and euthanasia services) that afternoon. While cleaning that morning, Ms. Hanson opened a dog food bag which had been set outside the back of the impound and was being used as a trash bag. In this bag she found the body of a puppy. The puppy appeared to
have been dried off by it's mother. She removed this puppy and opened a smaller dog food bag which had been underneath this puppy. Inside she found four dead puppies. These appeared to be wet and had been frozen together.
Ms. Hanson called Dr. Yvonne Bolay and asked for advice. Dr. Bolay
told her to be sure to take the rottweiler female to the vet, and then advised her to find a veterinarian she could trust to take the bodies to. Ms. Hanson took the dead puppies to Dr. Pam Prohaska at the Tomah Vet Clinic, who sent them in to the state lab in Madison for necropsy.
Ms. Hanson took the female rottweiler to the Sparta Vet Clinic that
afternoon, where it was confirmed that she had recently had puppies and had been nursed on.
The lab report from the state veterinary lab in Madison was sent back to Dr. Prohaska later that week (I believe she received it on Thursday or Friday). The report states that all five puppies died of massive brain hemorage, such as would be caused by being struck with a blunt instrument or being struck against a hard surface. All five puppies had air in their lungs at the time of death. The first puppy that Ms. Hanson discovered - the one which appeared dried off had milk in its stomach.
I have read this lab report but do not have a copy at this time. I
have also seen the pictures of the puppy's corpses taken by the Tomah Vet Clinic staff, and possibly by the state lab.
The theory is that Mr. Kremmer came in to work at the impound and
discovered the first puppy, which had been born prior to his arrival. After disposing of this puppy, he pulled the next four puppies as they were born and disposed of them in a similar fashion.
It is important to note that Mr. Kremmer is NOT licensed to do
euthanasia of ANY sort. Dogs from the impound that need to be euthanized for any reason are taken to the Sparta Vet Clinic in Sparta, Wisconsin.
It is also worth mentioning that at the time this dog gave birth, she had not been at the impound for the required seven days an owner has to redeem a dog (shelter policy actually reads seven plus one). This dog came in as a stray on February 25th, so was not available for adoption, or rescue, until March 5th. Had she been available, we would have removed her from this situation before the puppies were born, as we have had suspicions in the past that this type of thing was happening at the impound.
This incident was reported to Mr. Kremmer's superviser, Mr. Wesley
Bangsburg, and to Mr. Ken Kittleson on Wednesday, March 20th. It was reported by Ms. Hanson and by Dr. Prohaska. During this meeting, Mr. Bangsburg allegedly stated that Mr. Kremmer admitted to commiting this horrible act.
On this same date, I adopted the mother rottweiler from the impound and moved her to a foster home. Again, my concern was that the dog would be euthanized when Mr. Kremmer learned that the bodies of the puppies had been discovered.
This case was then turned over to the LaCrosse County Sherrif's
Department for investigation.
We have learned that our District Attorney has the report from the
LaCrosse County investigating officer, and that he intends to return it back to LaCrosse county. If charges are filed, it will be done there. The name of the investigating officer is Captain Jeffrey Wolf of the LaCrosse Sheriff's Department. He can be reached at 608-785-9629.
The phone number for the Monroe County Animal Shelter ( Dog Control) is 608-269-8775. The hours that someone is in the impound facility are 8 a.m. to 12 noon, Monday through Saturday.
Mail is not delivered to the impound but to the Community Services
Center at 14037Co Hwy B C-21A, Sparta, WI 54656-4509. That building is also the office of Wesley Bangsberg, who is Clifford's supervisor. The phone number there is 608-269-8736 and the fax number is 608-269-8795.
The Monroe County
Humane Society does not have a shelter or a phone
number. We alternate between meeting in Sparta at the Library and Tomah at the F & M Bank. We do have a P.O. Box, which is 392, Sparta, WI 54656.
Our District Attorney is Dan Hellman and his address is the Courthouse, 112 S. Court Street, Rm 201, Sparta, WI 54656. Phone number is 608-269-8780.
The La Crosse County District Attorney is Mr. Scott Horne and his
office phone number is 608-785-9604.
Wesley Bangsberg's County Supervisor is Al Wenzel, home phone number is 608-372-9019. The other members of the Sanitation, Zoning, and
Forestry, which supposedly supervises the dog control, are Jim Kuhn
(608-654-5440) (who proposed just shutting down the shelter completely in 2003 as a cost saving measure), Jim Pfaff (608-272-3368), Loren Pierce (608-378-4761) and Leo Selz (608-372-2608). These are their home phone numbers - they are County Board members, but do not have an office to contact.
There is a Dog Control Committee (consisting of one person) - Blanche (Teenie) Gleiss (608-269-2334).
The Personel Director is Kenneth Kittleson, who can be reached at
608-269-8719, fax 608-269-8893, or email
kkittles@co.monroe.wi.us
Zoning's e-mail is zn@.co.monroe.wi.us
The DVM who got the bodies to the Pathology Lab in Madison (and who has pictures and reports) is Pam Prochaska. She can be reached at the Tomah Veterinary Clinic at 608-372-4879 1600 Superior Ave, Tomah, Wi 54660. At this point she is waiting to see what the law enforcement officials will do.
The main concern at this point is that Mr. Kremmer has not been placed on suspension but is still working in his full capacity. He is alone and unsupervised with the dogs in his "care". Personally, I worry that as this heats up he will lose control and the dogs will suffer. Furthermore, as he becomes aware of our involvement in this, it will be difficult to work with him in a rescue capacity (we filed a complaint approximately a year ago concerning some other troubling incidents at the impound - his response was to refuse to let us take dogs from the impound in to rescue).
Thank you for any assistance you can offer in this situation. We are feeling rather helpless at this point, but will continue to do what we can to see that the right thing is done.
Shelly Reardon
(608) 372-3144
