CUDAHY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Last week, CBS 58 News introduced you to August the wallaby and his owner in Cudahy. A woman fighting to keep the animal that she considers a family pet.
Linda Rowster has owned August for a year, but now she’s been asked to surrender the animal.
“I’m very emotional today,” said Rowster. “The five days was up yesterday.”
A city ordinance prohibits residents from keeping wild animals as pets.
“People just don’t understand that all wild animals are inherently dangerous,” said Karen Sparapani, the director of Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC).
At Rowster’s home, August is currently nowhere to be found.
“He is now at a safe location while I fight the city to get him to come back home,” said Rowster.
Rowster says if he returns, she hopes to fence her entire backyard to give August more space, but MADACC says that’s still not enough.
“The animals are always gonna pay the price for the hubris that makes us think we can do this. I can own an animal because I want to,” said Sparapani. “You can’t train the wild out of a wild animal.”
Rowster disagrees.
“That’s wrong. Because he hasn’t changed at all,” said Rowster.
Rowster says she’ll continue to keep August in a safe house until she can fight her city ordinance to bring him back.
“You can definitely train a wallaby. It might just be harder, it might take a little bit more time and patience, but it's just like training a dog or a cat,” said Rowster.