Contact: Donna Gilson 608-224-5130
MADISON – A Viroqua couple has pleaded no contest to a charge of failure to register their livestock premises, and have now registered.
Mark and Jane Brothen appeared before Judge Michael Rosborough in Vernon County Circuit Court Monday, Jan. 24, and entered their pleas. Each was also ordered to pay $100 plus court costs, but Rosborough stayed the financial penalty for 10 days to give them time to register. They registered today, and so will not have to pay the penalties.
The couple’s unregistered premises came to the attention of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection when the department received routine copies of certificates of veterinary inspection for cattle they imported from Minnesota in May 2009. A series of mail and phone contacts between a state animal health inspector and the Brothens from May through December failed to persuade them to register. Vernon County District Attorney Timothy Gaskell filed charges in November 2010 at the department’s request.
Wisconsin law requires that any location where livestock are kept or gathered be registered in a central database and assigned a number. The registration lists what types of livestock are on the premises, so that owners of susceptible animals can be contacted quickly if there is a disease outbreak. Registration is free and confidential, and can be done online, on paper or over the phone in just a few minutes. The information is exempt from Wisconsin’s open records law.
The vase majority of livestock premises in the state are registered – currently about 60,000.
“Our animal agriculture producers asked the Legislature for mandatory premises registration, to protect animal health, individual farmers, and the state’s economy, which owes a lot to animal agriculture,” State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt said. He added that some animal diseases, such as avian influenza, may also pose a human health threat, making rapid response to outbreaks even more important.
“We’re pursuing these cases because we want to get farmers registered. We’re not out to punish them. That’s never been our enforcement philosophy for any of our animal health laws, or for any of the other regulations this department is responsible for,” Ehlenfeldt said.
