twerp13, I commend your volunteerism, but I don't think the offer would make it through the City Council. Even if a waiver of liability truly protected the city from legal issues, I'm afraid the council would put the sidewalk committee would be put in charge of organizing the animal transportation plan.

Janesvillecomments : I'd be glad to take a shift, weather is not too much of a problem for me I can either take my time and go it slow if weather is not that great or if permitted I have a double fenced inside outside working kennel system that could be used to temporarily house an over night dog or two. Hubby is an ex MP who worked with dogs in the military and had to do animal control as a routine part of his job. Between the two of us we have many years handling these kinds of dogs and would be happy to help step in and fill a void if called upon.
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It would not be the perfect situation, but hey if need be then I would do it until a better solution comes along. At least we are willing to help...

Ok, truth1, we've got you on the list for Friday and Saturday nights in January, while I-90 is being expanded.

Good luck with those 65 lb Shepherd/Pit Bulls that JPD just confiscated from their angry owners, and you might want to take along some cash for a motel room in case that blizzard hits Rock County while you are gone. Just pass the cages to twerp13 on February 1st. - Thanks.

What Janesville really needs is an ethnic restaurant which serves exotic dishes that could serve as an animal drop-off point for locally collected strays.

Kitty Curry, anyone?

Property taxes not high enough for you?

"It seems pretty pathetic that between Janesville, Beloit and all the surrounding communities in Rock County, that we can't build or expand what we already have to meet the need of our own county."

What do you mean "we can't"?

We certainly can.

Just organize a coalition to convince the county and cities to raise taxes to cover the project.

CAN'T is just another way of saying...don't want to.

It seems pretty pathetic that between Janesville, Beloit and all the surrounding communities in Rock County, that we can't build or expand what we already have to meet the need of our own county. Hiring people, buying vehicles and hauling our problems to Dane County is a sorry solution, IMO.
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Between Beloit and Janesville, a lot of money has been spent on recreational, aesthetic and other less critical projects in the last few years, yet for some reason, this very humane need of our communities, this need for our animals, keeps falling through the cracks.
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The editorial on the subject in Thursday's paper seems kind of wishy-washy to me, thumbs down on that one. I was hoping for a stronger call to action by the Gazette to our civic leaders and general population. This subject has been visited repeatedly over the past several years and we still have made no significant improvements to the situation.

Actually JoyM it is not that difficult to transport a dog at all...just use a large kennel. Volunteers would sign a waiver of liability so no problem there. Volunteers could have a large and a small carrier a catch pole and they would be good to go. The noise would not be too much of an issue for most who would be willing to volunteer...it is all part of the job.
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I do think though that there should be some sort of county animal control set up, but until then, this looks like the best option for helping the animals.

Sure, somebody might transport a cat in a cage, but are you really going to get someone to take a pit bull that bit someone and will be yapping and growling the whole way? It's not feasible because of the liability if a volunteer got hurt when it's a municipal responsibility. I have to say I am surprised that, in a county with this population, we don't have an actual county animal control department. I might not be for big government, but I am for public safety, and the people who would work in such a department would have specialized training to work with animals that might be less than friendly.

Shame we don't have a lot of no-kill options in South Central WI. One of my cats came out of Ann Arbor when I lived there and when they filled up, the employees just took extra cats home with them until space was needed; they were successful and no-kill. If you're surrendering a pet, it's already breaking your heart or if you find a stray and bring it in, it's only because you can't care for him or her. People who really don't care dump their pets or ignore the strays. I think more information about which shelters may be available that are no-kill would help pet owners make a decision. Maybe if, instead of saying no outright, RCHS leveled with people and said that due to space if they DID take in the pet they'd probably have to put it down and gave out a list of no-kill alternatives, that might help a pet owner or person who found a pet to drive out of his or her way to get that pet to a safe place on their own volition. That said, if I knew that a county vehicle was traveling to Dane County anyway (maybe to transport a prisoner or to attend to other business), why not stick a cat carrier in the front or back seat? It's not an elegant solution, but if they're ALREADY going that way and the cat or dog has a better chance to be adopted out of Dane sending a few pets that direction may not hurt. Special transports? As someone said, I can't believe we can't find volunteers. It would be great if the Gazette did a story about no-kill shelters in, say, a 2-hour radius and whether they'd be open to taking pets out of our area on an individual basis.

Oh, COME ON NOW, how hard would it be to get volunteers just to drive animals to Madison??

Really, now......

I have a novel idea... How about the police enforcing the laws regarding abusive and neglectful pet owners, instead of taking the animal away and dumping it at a shelter who's forced to absorb the cost? Why are so many people bashing the humane society for problems that society created. Do you take your kids to the grocery store and demand they get fed "Because that's what your there for?" Just sayin...

If that is their job... then they must shut up and do it.

Anybody can complain so get on their board and get those policies more to your liking. I'm just sayin'...

No it doesn't make sense, and I hope I don't have to drive to Dane county if my kitty got loose (she goes outside on a heavy fishing line). What does make sense is if the RCHS would be more realistic about their policies, and get a little more aggressive with euthanasia.
I'm just sayin'...