Wisconsin
Add Ozaukee to the list of Wisconsin counties with deer baiting and feeding bans. Now there are 59.
The finding of chronic wasting disease in a buck at a Sheboygan County shooting preserve has caused a deer baiting and feeding ban in Ozaukee County. The ban is required by state rule.
A deer baiting and feeding ban kicked in Thursday in Ozaukee County due to the recent detection of chronic wasting disease at a Sheboygan County captive deer facility, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The ban is linked to a CWD-positive 5-year-old white-tailed buck at Heavy Horn Whitetails LLC, a shooting preserve in Cascade, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Because the CWD finding was within 10 miles of the Fond du Lac, Ozaukee and Washington county borders, it affected deer baiting and feeding rules in each county.
State law requires the DNR enact a three-year baiting and feeding ban in counties where CWD has been detected and a two-year ban in adjoining counties within 10 miles of a CWD detection. If additional CWD cases are found during the lifetime of a baiting and feeding ban, the ban renews for an additional two or three years.
In this case, the CWD finding initiated a new two-year baiting and feeding ban in Ozaukee County. And it renewed existing bans in Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Washington counties. Baiting and feeding is now banned in 59 of the state’s 72 counties, according to the DNR.
More: Outdoors calendar
Prior to the change, Ozaukee County was the only county in southern Wisconsin in which deer baiting and feeding was allowed.
Baiting or feeding deer encourages the animals to congregate unnaturally around a shared food source where infected deer can spread CWD through direct contact with healthy deer or by leaving behind infectious prions in their saliva, blood, feces and urine, according to the DNR.
The state agriculture department announced the Sheboygan County CWD finding on Jan. 25.
As a result of the disease detection, Heavy Horn Whitetails LLC has been placed under quarantine and will remain so while DATCP and U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarians and staff conduct an epidemiological investigation, DATCP said in a press release. The business has 92 deer on 90 acres, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk and moose. It is caused by a infectious, malformed prion, or protein, that affects the animal’s brain.
The disease is not known to affect livestock nor has it been shown to sicken humans. However the Centers for Disease Control and Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommend humans not consume meat from an animal that tests positive for CWD.
The disease was first identified in the 1960s at a research facility in Colorado. As of this month, CWD has been detected in 32 states and five Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids or commercial captive cervid facilities, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The first detections of CWD in Wisconsin in both wild and captive deer were announced in 2002.
In Wisconsin DATCP regulates deer farms for registration, disease testing, movement and permit requirements while the DNR manages wild deer and deer hunting in the state.
The intended goals of the baiting and feeding ban include protecting the local wild deer herd and reducing the spread of disease, according to the DNR.
Bait and feed placed on the landscape, even in limited quantities, often attracts unnatural numbers of deer, according to DNR information. Deer are often concentrated at one bait or feed site, or between several sites in close proximity, allowing for increased contact that would otherwise not occur in natural feeding environments, the agency states.
Unnatural concentrations of deer and contact rates caused by baiting and feeding increase the risk of disease infection and transmission, according to the DNR.
For additional information on CWD in Wisconsin, visit dnr.wi.gov.
Sturgeon season update
Spearers registered 264 lake sturgeon through the first seven days of the 2024 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago System, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Poor ice conditions have reduced participation and harvest this year. Last year at the same point in the season 1,073 sturgeon had been registered.
On opening day (Feb. 10) the DNR reported reported about 450 shanties on Lake Winnebago, down from 3,000 in 2023 and 6,000 in 2022.
None of the protective harvest caps is close to being hit and fisheries staff with the DNR expect the season to run the full 16 days.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
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