BELLEVILLE - The owner of two ponies and multiple dogs who has been the subject of an online petition alleging animal neglect will not be charged after Green County Sheriff's deputies investigated and found no evidence of wrong-doing.
Deputies first responded to the allegations of neglect after a neighbor called Monday, Jan. 6 to report animals left outside in minus 40-degree temperatures. But Chief Deputy Dick Wyttenbach said the animals at the residence on County CC in Belleville had adequate shelter from the elements.
According to Wyttenbach, deputies have responded several times to the residence and tested a set of barrels the ponies were sheltering behind with a wind meter. Wyttenbach said the wind meter registered no wind, and this provided adequate shelter.
There were also reports of dogs that have died from the cold weather, but deputies found the dogs in a garage at the house and determined these claims to be unfounded.
"When people don't see the dogs for a few days, they jump to conclusions," Wyttenbach said.
Wyttenbach said the animals were properly cared for.
"If there was something to charge him with, we would."
According to online information on equine care from the University of Minnesota Extension website, sheds or trees provide enough shelters for horses in cold weather. As long as they can get out of the wind and sleet, horses can tolerate temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
The public outcry on social media seems to stem from an online petition by the Global Conservation Group, which calls for the sheriff's department to take action against the animals' owner. As of Tuesday night, Jan. 28, the petition had garnered more than 4,200 signatures, many of them from out of state.
The Global Conservation Group, a nonprofit animal rights organization formed by Jordan Turner, 20, Watertown, filed complaints on Monday, Jan. 27 through online forms to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant and Health Inspection Services. Turner also said his organization sent a letter of complaint to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Turner said he would like to see the owner charged with neglect.
"We want three firm walls and a roof for these animals," he said. "Our main concern is it's been so cold out and we don't think their shelter is appropriate."
The story has made its way all around Facebook and Wyttenbach said his office has been flooded with calls and emails.
"They're coming from all over the place; out-of-state people are responding to this now," he said of the calls.
Deputies first responded to the allegations of neglect after a neighbor called Monday, Jan. 6 to report animals left outside in minus 40-degree temperatures. But Chief Deputy Dick Wyttenbach said the animals at the residence on County CC in Belleville had adequate shelter from the elements.
According to Wyttenbach, deputies have responded several times to the residence and tested a set of barrels the ponies were sheltering behind with a wind meter. Wyttenbach said the wind meter registered no wind, and this provided adequate shelter.
There were also reports of dogs that have died from the cold weather, but deputies found the dogs in a garage at the house and determined these claims to be unfounded.
"When people don't see the dogs for a few days, they jump to conclusions," Wyttenbach said.
Wyttenbach said the animals were properly cared for.
"If there was something to charge him with, we would."
According to online information on equine care from the University of Minnesota Extension website, sheds or trees provide enough shelters for horses in cold weather. As long as they can get out of the wind and sleet, horses can tolerate temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
The public outcry on social media seems to stem from an online petition by the Global Conservation Group, which calls for the sheriff's department to take action against the animals' owner. As of Tuesday night, Jan. 28, the petition had garnered more than 4,200 signatures, many of them from out of state.
The Global Conservation Group, a nonprofit animal rights organization formed by Jordan Turner, 20, Watertown, filed complaints on Monday, Jan. 27 through online forms to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant and Health Inspection Services. Turner also said his organization sent a letter of complaint to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Turner said he would like to see the owner charged with neglect.
"We want three firm walls and a roof for these animals," he said. "Our main concern is it's been so cold out and we don't think their shelter is appropriate."
The story has made its way all around Facebook and Wyttenbach said his office has been flooded with calls and emails.
"They're coming from all over the place; out-of-state people are responding to this now," he said of the calls.