Operation Reunification: MADACC shares new plans to bring pets home

 

WEST MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee area organization wants to help more owners reunite with their missing dogs and cats.

New funding is helping the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC) with that goal, which they're calling Operation Reunification.

"The best place for a pet is in their home," said Kate Hartlund, community engagement coordinator for MADACC. "We want to make it easy for people to get these services and keep their animals at home and out of the shelter."

Grants from Friends of MADACC and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin are funding free microchips for all pets impounded by MADACC in 2023.

"Microchips are so important because it's really the only way to prove ownership of your animal, and it's the easiest way to get your animal back home with you," Hartlund said.

The grant also provides new microchip scanners for all seven police districts in Milwaukee County.

"If somebody brings a found animal into the police district, they can scan them right there to see if they have an owner, and then they never even have to enter the shelter," Hartlund said.

This year, all animals reclaimed from MADACC will be offered heavily discounted spay and neuter services.

"We're hoping that the more animals that are spayed and neutered, there will be less animals in the shelter, and they won't want to wander as much," Hartlund said.

Last year, only 35% of dogs and 6.5% of cats that entered the shelter were reclaimed. Hartlund said that's on par with nationwide statistics.

"We really want to increase those numbers. We don't want animals in the shelter. We want them at home with their family," Hartlund said.

Many lost pets that aren't reclaimed will become adoptable through MADACC.

Click here to learn more about MADACC and see adoptable pets.