Contact Information
Leasha LaDow accepts donations for her animal rescue efforts. She can be reached at 214-2173. Her mailing address is 4963 Sargent Road, South Wayne, WI 53587.
MONROE - Leasha LaDow cares for people as an occupation. She cares for animals as a love.
LaDow, 40, is a certified nursing assistant and cares for a Monroe woman full-time. But 24 hours a day, she's on call to rescue patients of the non-human variety.
Her most recent call came from Gloria Hammel of Monroe. On Friday morning, LaDow arrived at their home on 17th Street with a net, a cage and some caution. The Hammels had a masked bandit on their roof.
When LaDow arrived, the raccoon was asleep. That soon changed.
LaDow, net in hand, climbed a ladder to the roof. She dropped the net on the raccoon, which dashed farther under an overhang.
LaDow's brother, Darin Annis, went up, hands encased in heavy gloves. He held the growling raccoon in place as LaDow maneuvered the net around him.
With raccoon safety entangled in the net, LaDow and Annis came down, put the raccoon in a cage and loaded him into the back of their pickup.
Friday's work was another example of LaDow's determination to look out for the safety of humans, and animals.
"I've always loved animals. When I was younger, I wanted to be a veterinarian," LaDow said. "When I moved out into the country, I had the room to do this."
LaDow has been rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals for eight years. She is licensed by the Wisconsin DNR to trap animals, care for them and release them on their 115-acre farm in South Wayne.
She's taken in more than 200 animals, including raccoons, badgers, rabbits, squirrels, hawks and owls.
And she never asks for a cent. She pays all of her expenses out of her own pocket.
"I have a big heart," LaDow said. "It doesn't matter what kind of an animal it is."
LaDow has traveled as far as Madison and Cuba City to rescue animals.
She always takes precautions, because, "after all, they're wild animals, and they're unpredictable," LaDow said.
Her husband and two sons help her when they are around, as does Annis. Rescuing animals has become a family tradition.
"Animals that I've released three or four years ago still come back to our house every night for their marshmallows," LaDow said. "They still come home."
LaDow, 40, is a certified nursing assistant and cares for a Monroe woman full-time. But 24 hours a day, she's on call to rescue patients of the non-human variety.
Her most recent call came from Gloria Hammel of Monroe. On Friday morning, LaDow arrived at their home on 17th Street with a net, a cage and some caution. The Hammels had a masked bandit on their roof.
When LaDow arrived, the raccoon was asleep. That soon changed.
LaDow, net in hand, climbed a ladder to the roof. She dropped the net on the raccoon, which dashed farther under an overhang.
LaDow's brother, Darin Annis, went up, hands encased in heavy gloves. He held the growling raccoon in place as LaDow maneuvered the net around him.
With raccoon safety entangled in the net, LaDow and Annis came down, put the raccoon in a cage and loaded him into the back of their pickup.
Friday's work was another example of LaDow's determination to look out for the safety of humans, and animals.
"I've always loved animals. When I was younger, I wanted to be a veterinarian," LaDow said. "When I moved out into the country, I had the room to do this."
LaDow has been rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals for eight years. She is licensed by the Wisconsin DNR to trap animals, care for them and release them on their 115-acre farm in South Wayne.
She's taken in more than 200 animals, including raccoons, badgers, rabbits, squirrels, hawks and owls.
And she never asks for a cent. She pays all of her expenses out of her own pocket.
"I have a big heart," LaDow said. "It doesn't matter what kind of an animal it is."
LaDow has traveled as far as Madison and Cuba City to rescue animals.
She always takes precautions, because, "after all, they're wild animals, and they're unpredictable," LaDow said.
Her husband and two sons help her when they are around, as does Annis. Rescuing animals has become a family tradition.
"Animals that I've released three or four years ago still come back to our house every night for their marshmallows," LaDow said. "They still come home."