A Cause for PAWS seeks to end animal homelessness

KEWAUNEE – A Cause for PAWS is a group formed in Nov. 2023 by Suzie Leist and Julie Jacobs to help homeless animals in Kewaunee County. Originally made up of five volunteers recruited by Leist and Jacobs, the group is working to establish a contract with local municipalities to accept stray animals from Kewaunee County, which does not have a humane shelter.

Leist said this is a problem because while the surrounding counties, Manitowoc, Brown and Door, all have shelters, if people from Kewaunee County bring a stray animal to one of the shelters, they can be denied for lack of room and not having a contract.

While A Cause for PAWS itself is not a rescue, the members can provide suggestions for rescues in the area as they work to bring the Wisconsin Humane Society to the county.

The group has successfully secured a contract with Algoma and are currently working on similar agreements with Kewaunee and Luxemburg.

Securing their first contract in Kewaunee County with the city of Algoma was no easy feat.

Before the group could draw up a contract, they needed to raise enough funds to pay for it.

“First we had to get our name out there,” Leist said. “We’ve had tents at Wilson’s Wish, which is a nonprofit rescue farm animals. We had a tent for Brewer Park. We have our Facebook page and the community has been very supportive.”

Once the group had established a presence in the community, they began fundraising for their cause.

“In November of last year, we had a tattoo fundraiser at Davys Inks in Algoma. About 70% of the proceeds went to A Cause for PAWS, and the rest to Davys Inks for supplies,” Leist said. “Then we sold raffle tickets people had donated for cash prizes. The highest one was $1,000 that somebody donated. We had a couple in between there, and the lowest was $50.”

One member of A Cause for PAWS, Rachel Charles, is on the board of the Wisconsin Humane Society, so she was able to have the society draw up the contract to be presented to Algoma once the group had the funds.

“First we went to the city council, and we spoke in the open forum, and then a few days later, we heard from their PPP committee, we met with them, and then they took it to the council and put it on the agenda. And then it was voted unanimously for the city of Algoma to get the contract,” Leist said.

A Cause for PAWS meets monthly, but as the group has grown their meeting locations have changed.

“It’s usually the first Saturday of the month, and in the beginning, we would go to local restaurants in Kewaunee County to hold our meeting there. But now that we’ve gotten a little little bigger, we do private, because now we are working with the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation as a nonprofit,” Leist said. “We will soon be starting the paperwork to become a nonprofit of our own.”

The group has collaborated with Cats Anonymous, a Green Bay trap and neuter nonprofit, to keep the stray cat population controlled.
Leist works at Four Legged Veterinary Clinic in Luxemburg, which has a program of their own called CLAWS (Cat Lives Are Worth Saving) run by Dr. Lori Thuecks.

“She takes in the sick and injured. So we test them for feline leukemia, FIV virus, we vaccinate them, we deworm them, we treat them for any fleas or lice and then we spay and neuter them. Dr. Lori then adopts them out. And I think since she’s been doing that, she’s probably adopted out around 1,000 cats and kittens.”

After the group’s success in Algoma, they placed their sights on other cities in Kewaunee County.

“From there, we went to Kewaunee, spoke in their open forum from the city council, and I’ve been communicating with the chief of police in Kewaunee. And then just in the beginning of March, we went to Luxemburg, waiting to hear back from them. Then we’ll be going to Casco,” Leist said.

Soon, A Cause for PAWS hopes to have the county’s stray cat population reduced, with many adopted out and the remaining strays neutered to prevent further growth. The group also helps find missing pets through their Facebook page, A Cause for PAWS Kewaunee County. Reach out to their page for more information.